I WENT to see Riddley Scott's latest epic film on Christmas Day with my family and I was not disappointed. Scott's interpretation of the classic-biblical story takes some unexpected turns and keeps you enthralled to the very end.
Having made Gladiator, I was sure Ridley Scott would produce an epic picture worth watching, but I was disappointed with the quality of the 3D version of the film, which was the only one available at Ster Kinekor, Richards Bay.
After getting used to the first 20 minutes of the movie squinting over the war scene by the beginning of the film -which was compounded by the troops looking like ants on a stereoscopic table- I finally acclimated to eye pain.
The movie is based on the story depicted in the book of Exodus in the Christian book; The Holy Bible. While many are familiar with the story from the book itself, many know the story from the Disney Classic: Prince of Egypt.
Instead of starting with the story of Moses' (Christian Bale) birth at a time when his life was in danger of being ended by the Egyptians, as the overlords of the enslaved Hebrews, the film focuses much attention on Moses and Ramses (Joel Edgerton) as brothers.
Having a brother myself, the film resonates with me quite a lot and I was delighted to see Scott's tribute to his brother, Tony during the end credits (yup, I read those). Their brotherhood is tested throughout the film in a fresh new look at the original Exodus story.
I'm also glad they didn't get Morgan Freeman to play God in the movie (SPOILER alert ahead). Instead, they got an 11-year-old boy (Isaac Andrews) screaming dramatically with his tiny voice at Moses when God justifies his punishing the Egyptians with the seven plagues.
There is one scene (spoiler) with Nile crocodiles first on the plague agenda killing so many people in the river Nile so viciously that it stains the water red with blood for days. I found the scene incredibly gruesome but in tasteful way suited for the whole film.
Now, I am no movie guru but found the film to be beautifully done with as little CGI as possible, impeccable acting, a fresh look at an otherwise washed out biblical story, I think the film was seriously awesome in scale and Egyptological authenticity.
Overall, I like it.
Have you seen it? Tell me what you think by commenting on this blog post or pestering me on my Facebook or my Twitter accounts.
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