Exodus: Gods and Kings
With Exodus, Ridley Scott is trying to produce one of those goofy old-style Hollywood biblical epics. He nailed the goofy part, at least. There's really only about 20 minutes out of its two-and-a-half-hour runtime when Exodus comes alive: Toward the end, the plagues are rolled out in a very long, gonzo montage of special effects. People catch on fire, they're attacked by tiny animals, their faces erupt in boils, and civilization starts to fall apart. The sequence is in no way worth the price of admission, but it at least perks things up and reminds us what the movie could have been, if it had a pulse and a brain.
by Paul Constant