Gods of Egypt

There's simply no justice in this world. This world where safe, sanitary entertainment is king. This world where audacity is roundly mocked and true vision garners sneers of contempt. Alex Proyas has made something ridiculous with his ancient Egyptian VFX extravaganza, Gods of Egypt. He's also made a visionary piece of summer blockbustasia. Weighed against the sterile ephemera slipping into and out of theaters today, Gods of Egypt proves its worth.

It is not Egypt-the geographic region in Northern Africa-that is represented in Gods of Egypt. Maybe this is an important point to consider for those puritanical air wasters who successfully raised a fuss over this film's racial demographics. It is a mythical Egypt where ten-foot-tall humanoid gods live among their creations. The fuss is moot. One of these gods is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Horus, the heir to Egypt. Another is Set (Gerard Butler) the jealous uncle who wants what any jealous movie uncle wants; power over the kingdom. The very basic adventure outline even makes room for a thieving street rat and his puppy dog romance. This story isn't going to surprise, move, or enlighten anybody. But you know what? Neither will Captain America 5.

Coster-Waldau is a serviceable hero; Brenton Thwaites is a serviceable sidekick. But Gerard Butler is the most entertaining of the cast. Butler has softened into one of our most lovable movie rogues in recent years, but we forget that his break out role was as 300's King Leonidas; a hyper-masculine icon. With Set, Butler gets another go at straight savagery, and he's as committed to the character as any he's played. There are other fine actors present; all of whom get a chance to look or sound patently preposterous. To give you an idea, Geoffrey Rush shows up with a white ponytail and a flaming headdress to shoot sun bombs at a cloud with teeth. But who cares about the actors? This ain't 12 Angry Men.

A movie like this, without imagination, is Avengers: Infinity War. Bland, weightless, flat, grey, tepid, digital runoff. It's true that Gods of Egypt is stuffed with computer generated effects, digital backgrounds, lots of action, and wall to wall green screen. But there is a vision behind all the effects, and that is an all-important distinction. Alex Proyas has a passion for image-making. It's a through line in his career. In Gods of Egypt, he uses special effects not to expedite or enhance, but to create. There is a tendency to think of all CGI, all action, as the same. That's not true. Gods of Egypt uses CGI to CGI's best cinematic potential; to create worlds, wonders, images that spring right from the imagination of the filmmaker. You can see in the crowds of thousands, in the surrealist landscapes, and in the striking ancient-Egypt-on-LSD architecture, that there is a real filmmaker at work here. There is creativity on display. Wild unhinged visions of a world that only exists within Gods of Egypt's two hours.

I don't want to be carried away by hyperbole. Just because Gods of Egypt is visionary, doesn't mean it's great. In the end, this is still a modern VFX blockbuster, complete with many of the smaller problems that entails. There is ample room for bathroom breaks when the action stops and the dutiful business of humor, exposition, and "true love" is addressed. But it is hard not to go to the mat for a VFX blockbuster that actually amazed and delighted me. Gods of Egypt debunks the theory that huge CGI summer spectaculars are inherently stale. With a director that doesn't care about looking silly, blockbusters can still be astonishing. Gods of Egypt is a great blockbuster. I had genuine fun. Not a manufactured, conglomerate approved good time, but an actual imagination high you can only get by experiencing a work of passion and artistry.

79/100.

Before I watched this movie, I heard about the negative reviews about it. I read that the CGI was awful and that acting was terrible.

I must say people are too quick to criticize. This movie has a unique style and that is what made a lot of people to judge very quickly.

This movie is not a realistic or historical representation of Egypt and it never tries to be. It is more of a picture of how gods would look like and with a taste of magic and dream. The fact that gods are portrayed twice the size of humans should be the first sign of this style.

The color palette chosen for the movie is beautiful focusing on yellow of gold and brown of sand. This coupled with the vibrant and warm colors of the environments and set pieces create a delightful picture to watch.

The story is interesting to follow as it unfolds right from the beginning of the movie with a clash between two brothers. As it is common in these kind of stories, the bad and the good characters are easy to see from the beginning.

The CGI is mostly good and not as bad as it is called out by some people. The creatures are nicely created and the effects are mostly good with the exception of fire/explosion effects. There were times they felt a bit cheap considering the big budget of 140 million dollars of the movie.

I really like the humorous conversations between Bek (Brenton Thwaites) and Horus(Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau), the god of sky. Brenton's character really added a much appreciated tone of fun to the movie and made me feel that familiar sense of feeling of similar movies like Prince of Persia(2010). Actually this movie has some resemblance even to the video game of Prince of Persia for example with the design of creature/guardians. Anyway Brenton Thwaites really puts a good performance and I am curious to see what he will be able to do in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Gerard Butler fulfills his familiar role of war leader very well as expected, of course he is no stranger to these roles.

Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau does a great job portraying his character Horus as well. Although it would be nicer to see a bit more of his character's background.

Overall this movie offers a fun, humorous, entertaining story in a fantasy world filled with magical powers of gods and hatred and love. This movie is bold, vibrant and fast, it's a shame some people couldn't see beyond the distinct choice of style, which I personally found interesting.

I enjoyed this film. I read what all the critics said and they all seemed to hate it. I knew then that I'd probably like it...and I did! First you think it's going to be Aladdin-like because of the market scene. It has those moments but it's a love story as well as an action movie. The scenery is beautiful and I enjoyed it as well as the affairs, the true love, the backstabbing...literally. What I really liked, for me personally, was all the hunky heroes! There were some really good actors that are also very attractive. This is also true of the women in the film, the women were very attractive. If you like good looking actors, tense moments, some diabolical scheming, cool scenery although CGI, historical settings and a hero who saves the day, you'll enjoy this movie!

This was a movie I was really looking forward to as i love Egyptian mythology, the effects are awesome, acting is good, Nikolaj Costar-Waldau and Gerard Butler make exciting opponents, good fighting scenes, fair amount of appearance by many different Egyptian gods. Overall greatly entertaining for anyone who is interested in lore, myths, legends and fantasy movies. Just ignore the negative reviews, sit back and enjoy the show :) Indeed, it may even be one of the best movies which has a plot in ancient Egypt in the last few years. Geoffrey Rush as Ra is the cherry on top. Runtime is over two hours which passes away in a jinx since the action is non stop and there are always new extraordinary god characters on screen with different skill sets, good and evil characters with lots of variety. Have a good time.

I saw this film without expecting anything in particular, the trailer full of action scenes piqued my curiosity in addition to the director's name : Alex Proyas whom I discovered thanks to the very good I, Robot with Will Smith. I must admit that I did not go there without worry in view of the (very) negative reviews, from the press as well as spectators, but I came out of the screening more than satisfied. For once I don't understand why this film is being taken down on all fronts...

Admittedly, it's far from being a great movie but still there are a lot of things to take. Gods of Egypt is therefore a successful action/adventure film, skillfully combining fantastic with the peplum genre in an odyssey in the heart of ancient Egypt, at a time when gods rubbed shoulders with mortals. The atmosphere, the sets and the costumes transcribe well the features of Egyptian mythology, arid deserts with their sandstorms and majestic tombs, all with a mysterious aspect that makes us want to know more about its legends.

The story does not look very far in terms of originality, we approach themes such as wars of power and conquest, heredity, the initiatory journey with a touch of essential romance, but we can forgive this narrative facility with respect to the action. Alex Proyas is not Michael Bay in this field but hé comes out with honors by staging fights between titanic gods in animal/metal armor. So in terms of special effects, we appreciate spectacular good quality. The rhythm of the narration is sustained for 2h10 even if 2-3 timeouts affect the quality the story.

Frankly, even if it remains imperfect, Gods of Egypt is nonetheless a good entertainment , coupled with a rather pleasant little history lesson on Egyptian mythology. A pleasant surprise, I don't approve the bad reviews. 7/10.