Escape to the Movies: Exodus: Gods and Kings - The 11th Plague

[Tsaba]

I knew as soon as I heard about this movie that it would be shit. Not like it matters, we already have the best version of this story possible:


I love this movie. Probably my favorite animated film of all time.

Thanks, now I have to go watch Prince of Egypt.

No seriously, thank you, it's been way too long since I've watched it.

 

[Sanunes]

When did Christian movies become so popular? Haven't we had a recent surge of them in the past few years?

I mean, I guess there's a lot in the Christian mythos that would make for interesting films (even if it's not my particular cup of tea), but is there any reason why these are suddenly a thing?

I think a lot of these movies came around the same time as The Bible mini-series on The History Channel (sigh). Hollywood has proven time and time again they believe in recycling and there really hasn't been many major movies based on this particular area before that.

 

[Nikolaz72]

youknow what would make a great christmas movie.

moses in lord of the rings.

 

[Jadak]

"He's got one half of a matched pair of specially-made swords... and yes, Ramses has the other one." Wow. It just sounded kinda bland and boring until that part, but that just sounds cartoonishly bad. That's such an old trope, I can't remember the last time I saw it.

BTW, anyone know the TVTropes page for that?

While the movie was certainly bad, there was really nothing out of place about that. I mean, it's not like the swords are used for anything magical, the dudes were raised effectively as brothers in the eyes of the old Pharoah, why would he not have two matching swords made up for his two sons/generals?

It's a pretty appropriate thing for two brothers who happen to be soldiers fighting side by side.

 

[RoonMian]

"He's got one half of a matched pair of specially-made swords... and yes, Ramses has the other one." Wow. It just sounded kinda bland and boring until that part, but that just sounds cartoonishly bad. That's such an old trope, I can't remember the last time I saw it.

BTW, anyone know the TVTropes page for that?

While the movie was certainly bad, there was really nothing out of place about that. I mean, it's not like the swords are used for anything magical, the dudes were raised effectively as brothers in the eyes of the old Pharoah, why would he not have two matching swords made up for his two sons/generals?

It's a pretty appropriate thing for two brothers who happen to be soldiers fighting side by side.

I guess it's because in the actual Bible story the staves that are replaced by the sword are very much relevant and used for a lot of magical stuff.

 

[Cekil1]

So, this one turned into "Troy"? I had a feeling it would after watching the trailer. By the way, I couldn't care less what's going on with the Spider-Man movies.

As for the film, it is weird to see how Scott has started making these visually stunning but also ultimately boring or confusing films.

Are we talking about the Game Industry or Films LOL

 

[teamcharlie]

So I guess this is just how you make a big-budget movie now:
Get a famous director.
Get a couple of famous white actors.
Make some big-budget special effects scenes that will translate well to other markets without needing any pesky dialogue with some obvious landmarks to indicate the general location/time period.
See who buys it.

I'm honestly tempted not to even blame Ridley Scott or whoever for this shit anymore, and not for some interesting apologist reason. The studios probably have found that the cleverer the dialogue and the more culturally specific the narrative, the worse it sells to markets that either don't speak or speak shitty English, so there's hardly a reason to even try to get an edgy/talented writing team anymore.

Is that sad? Meh. I haven't been to theaters much lately, so I'm happy to check out fun little indie flicks when it's worth my time. Sucks for people out in the sticks who have a functioning brain stem and speak English well, though. For everybody else? Hell, I dunno. I don't wanna get too ethnocentric, but I don't know of a good solution. Demand better translations? Watch better movies? Stop being impressed by expensive shit? Just...like...wait for things to come out on Netflix or whatever?

 

[Heartsib]

Ridley Scott has already killed the theory of colorblind casting in this instance:

Ridley Scott has responded to months of criticism over the lack of ethnic diversity in his latest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, saying that his decision to to cast white actors in key roles was due to financial reasons.

"I can't mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Muhammad so-and-so from such-and-such," the Gladiator director told Variety magazine in an interview this week.

"I'm just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn't even come up."

(source) [http://www.newsweek.com/ridley-scott-refused-cast-mohammad-so-and-so-new-film-287689]

No idea where the critic quoted in that interview got the idea that Scott was "hellbent on historical accuracy", though.

 

[daxterx2005]

Bob brings up the Sony hack and doesn't bring up the Super Mario film that Sony is going to be helping out with?
Mind blown.

 

[Phasmal]

The whole way through this video I was just thinking `Wow, I really need to watch Prince of Egypt again`.
That movie is fantastic.
I'm going to have the songs in my head for weeks now.

Best person for the job, pretty sure that's what true equality is about.

Funny how this only comes up when people want minority actors, and not when the studios preclude people based on not being white. Suddenly, the "best person for the job" people disappear.

Very selective in your "equality."

Yes, if it's this way round its `best person for the job`, other way round is `PC pandering`.
We all remember the Idris Elba Heimdall thing.

 

[PunkRex]

So Prince of Egypt is still the better movie?

Good to know.

You could say that about 95% of movies out, seriously, I'm not a religious person but that film was some god tier animation.

The film looks kind of bland but that crocodile thing actually sounds kind of bad-ass.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So Prince of Egypt is still the better movie?

Good to know.

You could say that about 95% of movies out, seriously, I'm not a religious person but that film was some god tier animation.

Well, it's just kind of odd when you figure it's animated, and it's also kind of forgotten about. Not that animation is less of a medium, but live-action will always have that one-up what with having real onscreen acting. And yet this "cartoon" is essentially better than both live-action movies.

 

[KiramidHead]

I think it's a bit ridiculous to call Prince of Egypt better than Ten Commandments. Both are incredible films, but damn that original has a lot going for it.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Bob brings up the Sony hack and doesn't bring up the Super Mario film that Sony is going to be helping out with?
Mind blown.

Well, keep in mind this was most likely recorded sometime last week.
While I'm sure that he will cover it, I can imagine it would be hard for him to do so having already planned out all his content for the week already.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yes, if it's this way round its `best person for the job`, other way round is `PC pandering`.
We all remember the Idris Elba Heimdall thing.

I think the better example might be The Hunger Games. Not only were these folks upset that the casting call for someone described as olive skin specified a white girl (hey, best actress for the job, long as she's white...hurr hurr), but there was an outrage over Rue and the other tribute (forget his name) being "made black." And not only did nobody seem to say "hey, best actors for the job," few people could even point out that they were actually black in the book.

And then there's Doctor Who, where the recent topics on the show have had the same "best actor for the job" thing, but outside of that comedy sketch in the 80s, when's the last time a woman actually auditioned for the role of The Doctor? It just seems so damn hollow when "the right person" might actually be precluded.

And then you get into all the crap where minorities are PC, pandering, or disrespecting the source material.

 

[Martin Olminkhof]

I'd also recommend the Rugrats version

 

[WindofHawks]

Sounds like the only "Gods and Kings" I should bother with is playing another round of Civilization V.

I like this joke. I like this joke a lot. Well played, sir.

In any case, I'll just re-watch the Prince of Egypt. That was a really good version with some likable characters. For one, Rameses isn't really an asshole outright, he becomes one because of the role he's forced into and, at the start, he seems like the better leader than Moses. It's only through the roles that they are forced into that Ramese goes from kind leader to Tyrant and Moses from Joker to humble, yet commanding leader.

Plus, the score is excellent. The Burning Bush is, in my view, Hans Zimmer's best piece and my personal favourite piece of score music. It beats out Lord of the Rings which, otherwise, would have won with Rohan or Gandalf Falls or possibly the Shire.

 

[ACman]

I don't see the issue with the supposed "white washing" yes Christian Bale doesn't look like our preconceived notions of what someone from that time looks like, but surely this should be a case of best man for the job, whatever you think of Bale, he got through the casting process was obviously what the production want.

Best person for the job, pretty sure that's what true equality is about. Not to mention the difficulties in securing funding, because lets be honest, how many Arabic actors have the cultural caché that would be required to secure funding for a project like this? It's a reality of the business, is it a reality that sucks? Abso-fucking-lutely it is. This isn't an issue of Scott's casting being on the nose of a hot button issue, instead of demonising him, perhaps we should turn our attentions to the studios that created that atmosphere or y'know... maybe actually turn up to movies with relatively unknown Arabic actors to show the movie industry we are interested in seeing movies starring them.

Do these considerations stop this being a bad movie? Not in the least. But it's perhaps food for thought and enough to make you turn your ire not against the Director or Actors, but against the studios that promote this behaviour with the way they award funding.

*PS. I'm not sure if Arabic would be the politically correct term here, but it would seem to be. If I'm wrong feel free to let me know (preferably without calling me a racist).

Christian Bale isn't the best person for the job, more the person who gets the movie funded.... For some reason he's a star despite him being (IMO) a boring blowhard in every scene he's in. The real question Joel Edgerington.... Really? That B-lister Australian? You couldn't have found someone plausibly North African to cast because Joel Edgerington is so important?

Don't get me wrong. In Australia Joel Edgerington made some fine cinema.... But we're like 20 million people, is there anybody outside of Australia who doesn't confuse him with Sam Worthington? Is casting him really worth more than versimilatude of casting a real Egytian with the added bonus of insulating your movie against claims of white-washing?

 

[Nixou]

The film looks kind of bland but that crocodile thing actually sounds kind of bad-ass.

Pfff, I'm still waiting for Hollywood to make an adaptation of the Epic of Sundiata, preferably one with no pretense of historical accuracy and completely embrace the Crippled Warlock King side of the story and display all the completely out-there chapters of the tale. (Crocodiles eating people? badass? put to film the Charge of the Hippopotamus Legions and we'll talk)

 

[Dalisclock]

If Bollywood wants to make a movie about the signing of the declaration of independence and the Revolutionary War with an entirely Indian cast, and then release it worldwide, they can knock themselves out, no one is forcing me (or anyone else) to watch it.

Well, the historical accuracy won't matter anyway once the continental congress breaks into a huge musical number during the signing. At that point, the entire cast being Indian really is hardly going to be the most immersion breaking thing in the film.