Dioses de Egipto

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.

Well they would have to have theatres to play them in too of course. But I derive and this actually has many flaws. It's way too easy to take this apart on many things. Gerald Butler is overplaying it, the CGI, the story and much more. But why get mad, when you can have fun. And there is a lot of that to be had.

Just dive into this movie and watch it free of all, if you can. Because this is how this wants to be watched. And if you can do that, then you are in for a very fun and entertaining ride. Most of it doesn't make sense and it's more or less one sequence paired with another, but tries to encapsulate the Harryhausen feeling. And in some regards I'd say it did. Before you cry sacrilege (especially because it was real tough work that was put into those stop motion films back in the day), I'm talking about the general vibe. If you can appreciate that, roll with it.

Alex Proyas' "Gods of Egypt" is a film that is boldly and unabashedly silly and preposterous. Few other words can describe it. It has the pratfalls that beset typical Hollywood fare. It is already the subject of controversy due to its preeminently Caucasian cast. It has both critics and audiences sharpening their knives, a film supposedly destined for failure.

Oh, but it works because the film truly bonkers. Truly insane. Truly out of its mind.

Proyas, a gifted and visionary filmmaker, is renowned for having thought-provoking and striking imagery in all of his films, and this film is without exception. Where in any other film do you get to see goddesses horse-riding giant fire-breathing serpents? Or wagons carrying infinite amounts of gold dumping their load in a funnel-like tube ala dump trucks? Or for that matter, gods bleeding gold? Or Gerard butler riding gold- chromed giant beetles into battle? Or gods that have body parts that, when disfigured, instantly become detachable jewelry? Or...

Admittedlly the plot is indeed silly even by blockbuster Hollywood standards, however a lesser Proyas film is still more visually inventive than the usual Hollywood movie factory output, and that is always a plus. Whereas a film like "Pan" bludgeons us over the head with its disgusting cynicism and disrespect for the source material by portraying its titular hero as a clichéd messiah figure, Proyas directs with the exuberance of a kid in Disneyland - with Disneyland replaced with an Egyptian museum exhibit – eager at the chance to create his own action packed tale while still respecting the gods as, well, gods.

What is there to say about the plot, except that it has gods and it has Egypt? You get exactly what's on the tin. You get a chiseled hero in the form of Horus (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau), his athletic and quippy comic sidekick (Brenton Thwaites) and beautiful love (Courtney Eaton), who set out to defeat Horus' evil uncle Set (Gerard Butler, simultaneously parodying his "300" persona while being supremely sinister).

The whole thing sounds very Greek. But rather than eschewing the silly tone and making it "Gladiator"-style dark and dreary ala the recent "Clash of the Titans" movies, Proyas and the actors let loose and have a ball with the material, never being too self aware while being silly enough to make for compelling viewing. Even rising star Chadwick Boseman (terrific in both "42" and "Get on Up"), as Thoth the god of knowledge, relishes in chewing the scenery with every moment, never afraid of being campy. Not bad.

Look, it's clear that the film is a B-grade Saturday night matinée film straight from the 1950s. Ever heard your grandparents told you about those? The ones where there's usually a double feature showcasing silly low budget sci-fi/horror/fantasy plots with handsome men and gorgeous gals, supremely cheesy one liners and having no purpose other than to put a goofy smile on your face from start to finish, almost guaranteeing a good time out? Well, this is one such movie, but with a blockbuster budget and the added pleasure of having Proyas wrapping the fun around with his wonderful thought-provoking visuals and production design, and going wild with this thing. Two set pieces involving a gigantic worm-like demon and the Egyptian afterlife are visual marvels, triumphs of set design and visual effects, evoking senses of awe and wonder like films from yesteryear and other gifted visionaries. For mainstream filmmakers, CGI is the cheat sheet. For Proyas, it's his toy box. This is eye candy on a spectacular scale, and audiences won't get short-changed.

Bear with me here, but if you were to replace the cast with genuine Egyptian actors, I think the film would be mired in even bigger controversies because it will definitely look more inaccurate and seemingly insulting than it supposedly already is. It's stupid, yes, but it's gloriously stupid and never succumbs to taking itself ever so seriously. Proyas sort of knew what he was doing here, and he didn't give a damn about what others thought. And that's the kind of filmmaker I admire the most.

The film is a good Fantasy that has a decent story and allot of action. Effects are pretty good and suited the Egyptian vibe.

There was a bit of cheese here and there and it is not a film with great depth, but the acting was pretty good.

Not sure why it got such bad reviews, I can only suspect it was the political correct media who did not like the fact it had white actors playing all the main Gods (which some believe the ancient Egyptian elites were in fact Caucasian anyway, which is a debate) And also it may not pamper to the growing and irritating Femiwood thing, as it was strong men leading the roles, and with effeminate women, a little traditional in that sense. So it would not surprise me if all this was the true motivation behind its poor media reaction, which is a shame.

It was not the greatest fantasy there is, But its a decent film that had a bit of originality to it and if they done a squeal I would be happy to go see it.

Already from the trailer alone, you know that this is going to be a special effects movie. And with that in mind, you might already be setting yourself up for a movie that doesn't really require much thinking from you as an audience.

Well, that is partially true actually. The movie is a spectacular display of visual effects, both in CGI and props. And these dazzling effects do carry the movie a great long way, I will say that much. And the story, while it is simplistic, actually did turn out to be entertaining. Sure, it wasn't a brain challenger, not by a long shot, but you know what you are getting into with "Gods of Egypt".

While we are on the CGI and special effects, then I must admit that it was the selling point for me, because I was blown away how they had managed to bring ancient Egypt and their ancient Pantheon to life with today's CGI and special effects.

As for the cast, well, they could have opted for someone a bit more thespian, considering the talents of both Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau and Gerard Butler. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they did it poorly. Actually far from it, but they are more of a physical kind of acting in terms of action, more than they are set in ways of deeper character portraying through acting.

There is a lot of action throughout the entire movie, and you are constantly being bombarded with visual effects, to the point where it brims on being over-used. But it worked for me.

If you enjoy a good fantasy movie with roots in actual ancient history, then "Gods of Egypt" is definitely worth your time and money. I do think, however, that "Gods of Egypt" is the type of movie that you can watch every now and again with some years in between each watching.

I am rating "Gods of Egypt" a well-deserved seven out of ten stars. This was good, wholesome entertainment wrapped up in a visually impressive package.