I did know going into the movie that there was going to be some diluting of God and I prepared myself to leave a good size room for artistic interpretation. And I did. I really did. I wanted to like this movie, but in the end I don't recommend it for anyone who loves God's Word. The story of the Exodus is so good in and of itself and I was just prepared for some awesome scenes of God's power. But Mr. Scott utterly destroyed what could of been a phenomenal movie! He splurged 124 million dollars for goodness' sake! You will be disappointed. You will be angry. You will be frustrated. You will be sad. And you will want to vomit!
I am now going to list some of things I hated most of this movie. So if you plan on seeing the movie, please stop reading now.
1. Once you get to this next point in the movie, it all spirals out of control fairly quickly from there. Moses is exiled by Pharaoh and he meets Zipporah, Jethro, his wife and his daughters. Time passes (9 years) and during a bad rainstorm, three sheep start going up the mountain that is called "God's mountain", Moses follows. As the sheep ascend, a mudslide pummels Moses and he is all but submerged in the mess. His face is all that sticks out of the sludge. Close by a small bush ignites in blue flames and out comes GOD . . . . . in the form of an eight year old child with an English accent! I couldn't believe it! My gag-reflex was stimulated! This kid proceeds to speak with Moses and to make it seem deeper, the little boy is playing with these little rocks. The child piles these little rocks into a pyramid and guess how many rocks there are? I will give you one guess........ yes! 10! Gee, I wonder what that means! At first, I thought maybe that the little boy was like a messenger, like an angel, anything else but God, but Mr. Scott leaves no room for doubt. When Moses asks who he is talking to, the music crescendos, the camera moves in closer, it all becomes still and the child opens his mouth and says, "I am". This is where I threw up!
2. For having the sub-title of Gods and Kings, all gods are pretty silent and almost non-existent. There is no show down of my God is better than your god. Moses hardly interacts with Pharaoh and never duels with the priests. God doesn't command Moses to turn the water into blood using his staff. The water turns into blood by crocodiles that attack a boat and the people in it and then turn on each other. All the crocodiles in the Nile tear each other apart, and that's all folks. This bloody mess leads to the frogs leaving the Nile tormenting all. The frogs die and here come the flies. Then the remaining plagues proceed to torment both Egyptian and Hebrew alike. Both Gods seem to just stand back and let " nature" take its course. There is only one time that Moses communicates with Pharaoh before the killing of the firstborn and Moses does so by writing a warning in red paint/blood on the side of a white horse. No battle of the serpents, no throw down of the priests versus Aaron and Moses, no warnings from Moses, no passion of exclaiming "Let My People Go!!" And no Pharaoh equally as passionate, digging in his heels and having his heart hardened saying ,"no!" The Hebrew God is silent, and the Egyptian gods are mute. And so are their messengers.
3. Moses battles with the decision of God killing the firstborn. Moses argues with God, well the kid who portrays God. Moses looks down and can't believe God is about to kill so many innocents, but God reminds Moses of the evil of the Egyptians and how His people have suffered 400 years of slavery. Vengeance is His! It just doesn't seem so serious coming from a little kid who tries to appear tough. There is so much depth in the Passover. So much meaning and foreshadowing of the ultimate Passover where the blood of the Lamb of God was poured on the wooden Cross, but again Mr. Scott blows it! God is just a fed up kid that's had enough. They killed Hebrew male newborns, so God takes their firstborn sons.
5. The last thing I will mention is the crossing of the Red Sea. Looking at the trailer again, I feel I was fooled. I think Mr. Scott made it appear that the Red Sea splits in the trailer, but in the movie it doesn't. What appears to happen is the tide recedes, ebbs and comes raging back with thunder, dark clouds, wind, water spouts and all. There are no walls of water on both sides, there is no dry ground (the Hebrews actually struggle in some areas of the crossing due to how high the water is in some areas), and there is no staff/rod in this scene. The Bible so specific about these things (Exodus 14:21-22). Also, just to top it off, the massive tide finally comes back while Ramses and Moses are fighting in the "dry"ground. They along with the Egyptian army are swept up my the colossal tide. Miraculously both Ramses and Moses survive.
There are so many other small things that really upset me within this movie, but these are the five that are the worse. This movie is offensive to me as a Christian. This wasn't even Scripture twisting, but out right lies. I do not recommend this movie and I will never see it again.
The only good thing I will say about this movie is that the CG was phenomenal and seeing Egypt in her glory was breathtaking. Other than that, I hated it!
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