Time for another deeply familiar Old Testament tale to be retold in somewhat controversial fashion with a big-budget Hollywood spin, as I say in my video review above.
This time, it’s Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings, yet another re-telling of the Jews’ flight from Egypt. In this case, Moses is played by Christian Bale, whose performance includes remarkably perfect hair for several thousand years ago. Joel Edgerton, another historically controversial casting choice, is the Pharaoh. The star-filled cast also includes John Tuturro, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.
The screenplay was written by Steve Zaillian, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Jeffrey Caine, who clearly labored to put a fresh spin on an ancient and oft-told story (every year, in fact, if you’re an observant Jew). Besides Scott, the producers are Peter Chernin, Mark Huffam, Michael Schaefer and Jenno Topping. The film already has grossed nearly $ 24 million overseas and opens Friday in the U.S.
I have to say that, boy, can Ridley Scott do a plague well, and here, he gets to do 10 of them. But is this oh-so-familiar tale still fresh enough to get people into theaters in the droves needed to make back the very high production values that we see on screen? Watch my review and let us know what you think.
Pete Hammond