Note- I published my movie review of Exodus: Gods and Kings on Medium. I didn’t realize I already had an account here, so I copied and pasted my review here.
Let’s hear what I say about Exodus Gods and Kings!
It was filmed in 2014. I had never heard of this movie until I found the DVD at the Goodwill Store. The picture on the DVD looks dramatic. As someone with a religious background, I was interested in buying it, which I did.
After watching the movie for about two hours with a few pauses and occasionally rewinding parts to clarify my understanding, I realize that this movie is not religious in theme or a Christian movie, even though it appears to be one due to the nature of the title, 'Exodus,' which is a biblical term. The motivation for the production of Exodus: Gods and Kings was mysteriously unknown. It was directed by Ridley Scott and written by four writers. Some of these writers had written stories for familiar movies and actors like Will Smith and Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. I searched the writers' backgrounds to understand the mindset behind the story, but not much about their backgrounds or personal lives was revealed, other than their film project credits being showcased online.
Hard-core evangelists and Christian believers described the movie as anti-Christian and criticized it as part of leftist Hollywood in their reviews. In my opinion, this movie is far from anti-Christian. It didn’t feature negative content about the Bible stories. Yes, Exodus: Gods and Kings isn’t in line with the original Bible story of Exodus. I think Christians expected to experience Exodus: Gods and Kings in the same way they felt about The Passion of the Christ, but instead, they were disappointed with the movie.
It’s difficult to identify the motivation behind the making of Exodus: Gods and Kings due to the absence of information on the mindset of the filmmakers. I personally don’t know the faith or religious background of the director and writers, as there is very little information about them available. So, in my opinion, I think the showcase of Exodus: Gods and Kings is more about maintaining the employment of film crews. Most filmmaking jobs aren’t permanent; film projects come and go, and these people still need jobs. No company would invest in film projects that people typically don’t watch, nor would they invest in recycled film projects, as there have been many Moses stories made into movies in the past. So, I believe that making Exodus: Gods and Kings stand apart from all other typical Moses-Exodus movies was a way to differentiate it.
About the movie story
In Exodus: Gods and Kings, Moses initially interpreted his calling from God (communicated through a young boy) as that of a typical militant rebel, seeking a revolutionary stance against Egypt through military action. Later, God appeared to Moses again to clarify his calling: Moses was to leave the revolutionary actions to God. The guidance was that Moses' true calling was what God had asked him. It’s a true lesson in modern Christianity that God’s way isn’t always aligned with human understanding. What we think is best isn’t always what God really wants. In the movie, Moses' original thinking wasn’t aligned with what God wanted for him.
I found some interesting scientific cause-and-effect insights in the plagues and the Red Sea. In the original Moses story in the Bible, all of these plagues just happened magically out of thin air. In the movie, there was an explanation for how each plague occurred. Massive alligators attacked humans in the rivers, which turned red due to the bleeding of both humans and alligators. Because the rivers were full of blood, frogs were forced to migrate out of the rivers to find temporary shelter. Since the bloody rivers weren’t recovering in time, and frogs need water to survive, the frogs died on land. The death of the frogs attracted flies all over Egypt. Flies touched human skin, causing humans to suffer from skin diseases, and so on. "Regarding the Red Sea, in the original Moses Bible story, at Moses' request for immediate intervention, God commanded the Red Sea to divide so the Hebrews could walk through on dry land. In the movie, Moses never asked God for divine intervention regarding the Red Sea. Instead, God made the mission possible by ordering the water level to lower to a current where people could walk through. You don’t see the high tide waters separate in half like the story you typically hear in the Book of Exodus. In the movie, Moses was a simple man who wasn’t aware that God’s plan was already in action, even though Moses himself never asked God for help. What Moses saw as natural causes were actually the actions of God at work behind Moses' mission.
These scientific cause-and-effect insights have led me to reconsider the literal interpretation of the original Exodus story. Nobody really knows who wrote the original Exodus in the Old Testament, but it’s always interesting to ponder the mindset of the writer of that story.
I could have continued writing the review of this movie. It took me many hours because I had so many thoughts to share. Back to the point I made earlier, Exodus: Gods and Kings is not a Christian movie in the traditional sense, but rather a dramatic, scientific interpretation of the traditional Moses story. That’s why there’s a subtitle, 'The Epic Story of Moses,' under the movie title, Exodus: Gods and Kings. I do recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys epic Bible stories with unexpected surprises!
Reggie
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