If you had someone tell you that you were adopted and you were actually descended from a group of people (Hebrews) who were slaves to the people you grew up with (Egyptians), you might think that person was insane. So it is with Moses - he grew up his entire life among the Egyptians as the son of the Pharaoh. Over the years, he knew he was different than the rest of his family, he just never realized how different. Yet, when a Hebrew man named Nun comes to him and tells him the truth, Moses refuses to believe it until his birth mother and sister confirms it. Once Moses's adopted brother, the Egyptian prince Ramses, finds out, Ramses has Moses banished from Egypt. Moses spends several years wandering the desert, eventually coming to the land of Midian where he meets and marries a woman named Zipporah and spends his days as a shepherd. One day when Moses is tending to his sheep, he witnesses a burning bush on a mountain, and out of the bush comes a voice who identifies Himself as 'I Am'. Moses doesn't believe in any gods, so he initially writes off the encounter as a weird dream. It isn't until a young boy later appears to him that he realizes it is the God of his people, the Hebrews. God instructs Moses to go back to Egypt and convince Ramses - who is now the Pharaoh - to set the Hebrews free from slavery.
Before I get into my thoughts about Exodus: Gods and Kings, I must first caution my Christian friends and readers: Do NOT go in to Gods and Kings thinking it's going to be a literal adaptation of the Biblical story of Moses that you know. While some aspects where kept intact (more on that later), there are some major differences from the actual story, and the story that made it onscreen. I think you should see it, but keep an open mind as you do.
For all its differences from the Biblical tale, as its own story Exodus: Gods and Kings is actually very well done. Most of the acting was believable (though I wish Aaron had been given a bigger role, he barely had any lines throughout the entire movie), the special effects were great, especially during the 10 plagues sequence. While the movie as a whole was obviously NOT Biblical, there were several things that I could see how it could have happened that way. Moses is portrayed as a military leader after growing up in Pharaoh's palace, and at one point shown in battle alongside Ramses. Even though the Bible doesn't specify whether he was a military leader or not, I could believe that happening. During the scenes where Moses and God are discussing what will be occurring whenever Ramses refuses to release the Hebrews, Moses questions God's motives several times. In almost every adaptation up until Gods and Kings, Moses has been portrayed as following God's orders without question. I found it interesting (in a good way) that Moses is portrayed here as having trouble following God and questioning almost every decision. To me it made him almost more human than previous adaptations.
Going into it I had heard the controversy surrounding the fact that the main cast was all white people; after watching it, I have to agree. I might have been ok with one or two people here and there, but the cast should have been closer to how the people of that time and region looked like. I also didn't like turning the Hebrews into rebels who resorted to sabotaging the Egyptians by destroying crops, supplies, and other things before the 10 plagues happened. That's one part that wasn't very believable to me. Moses' banishment was kind of an afterthought instead of being one of the important parts of the story, as the reasoning behind it was just that he was Hebrew instead of it being that he murdered an Egyptian guard beating up a Hebrew slave. Probably one of the biggest things I didn't like about the movie was how it portrayed God as a 12 year old boy, who was honestly really bratty at times. It made God look like some angry deity instead of a just and holy God.
Overall, even though I didn't like the major changes to the original Biblical story, and the whole all-white cast controversy, I thought as its own vision Exodus: Gods and Kings was a very well done adaptation of one of the most important - not to mention most popular - stories in the Bible. I would urge people, especially Christians, to see it.
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