Gods of Egypt

"Good"

Gods of Egypt Review


With a massive scale and a digital cast of thousands, this ancient Egyptian romp tries to be both a new version of those 1950s Biblical toga epics and a generous dose of camp silliness. The result will be a guilty pleasure for some in the audience, especially those who enjoy watching grown men leap around in short skirts. The actors are sometimes lost in the overwhelming animation, and the casting of Westerners as North Africans is more than a little dubious. But the script is smarter than it looks, and director Alex Proyas is clearly in a playful mood.

The premise conflates the golden age of the Pharaohs with the ancient world of Egyptian gods. And things kick off when the bitter god Set (Gerard Butler) launches a reign of terror by killing his brother, blinding his nephew Horus (Nokolaj Coster-Waldau) and taking over the mortal world, enslaving all humans. Horus' greatest fan is the muscly slave Bek (Brenton Thwaites) who, encouraged by his glamorous girlfriend Zaya (Courtney Eaton), sneaks into Set's palace and steals one of Horus' eyes. He then strikes a deal to help Horus assume his rightful throne. But this means travelling into the sky to confront his grandfather Ra (Geoffrey Rush), then teaming up with sneering god of wisdom Thoth (Chadwick Boseman) and duplicitous Hathor (Yung) to take on Set.

All of this is so ridiculous that it's difficult to stop giggling. And that seems to be part of the idea, as Proyas merrily cranks up the snarky wit in every scene, especially as he indulges in a series of ludicrous set-pieces that feel like videogames populated by toy action figures. The digital effects continually engulf the characters, transforming the gods inexplicably into animal-headed metallic robots. But they also create some genuinely gorgeous moments of spectacle, with sprawling landscapes and whooshing action. Basically, the actors have little choice but to hang on for the ride along with the audience.

There are plenty of elements here that are so bad that they're actually a kind of genius. Why have they cast a Dane, a Scot and three Aussies as lead characters in a movie about Egypt? Why is every room set up with insanely elaborate booby traps that would stump even Indiana Jones? Perhaps because this kind of nuttiness is thoroughly entertaining. There are even some surprising themes gurgling around, from a complex father-son relationship to an enjoyable bromance between Horus and Bek. In other words, this movie may be a mess, but it's also a lot of fun.

Rich Cline

Watch the trailer for Gods Of Egypt:



Gods of Egypt

Facts and Figures

Genre: Sci fi/Fantasy

Run time: 127 mins

In Theaters: Friday 26th February 2016

Box Office USA: $31.1M

Box Office Worldwide: $142.2M

Budget: $140M

Distributed by: Lionsgate

Production compaines: Summit Entertainment, Mystery Clock Cinema, Thunder Road Pictures

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 12%
Fresh: 14 Rotten: 102

IMDB: 5.6 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as Set, as Horus, as Bek, as Ra, Elodie Yung as Hathor, Courtney Eaton as Zaya, as Thoth, as Urshu, Abbey Lee as Anat, as Osiris, as Head Judge, as Nephthys, Alexander England as Mnevis, as Isis, Goran D. Kleut as Anubis, Emily Wheaton as Young Maidservant, Matt Ruscic as Urshu Guard, as Sharifa, Wassim Hawat as Set Guard, Julian Stone as Voice Actor, Jeff Coopwood as High Priest (voice), Jean-Pierre Yerma as Priest, Ishak Issa as Musician, Richard Mutschall as Priest, Paula Arundell as Fussy Older Maidservant, Julian Maroun as Young Human Soldier, Marisa Lamonica as Heliopolis survivor, Josh Farah as NobleMan, Garrett William Fountain as Drummer, Sean Michael Perez as Mortal, Premila Jennar as Mortal Atmos, Michael-Anthony Taylor as Priest / MC, Alia Seror-O'Neill as Young Maidservant #2, Yaya Deng as Anat, Rachel Joseph as Wealthy Servant, Alessandro Guerrera as Mortal Man 1, Rhavin Banda as Mortal (uncredited), Kurt Goehner-Winter as Soldier (uncredited), Gareth Hamilton-Foster as Army Warrior (uncredited), Adam Roper as Soldier (uncredited), Karim Zreika as Survivor (uncredited)

Also starring: ,

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