Whole lot of faith-based movies this year. Ridley Scott’s Exodus is the newest and tells Moses’ famous tale. Unfortunately it comes out closer to the fictional Noah, which I also didn’t like earlier this year. To say Scott took artistic license is a big understatement, and I just don’t get it.
Moses is played by big-time star Christian Bale. Bale is a very fine actor, but his Moses isn’t all that believable, and I have to believe some of that is the writing. Moses struggles with his faith throughout, to the point that the viewer is left wondering if he really believes in God or their mission at all, even when the plagues are hitting Egypt. He is mostly a reluctant figurehead for the Hebrew people calling for freedom. God doesn’t work through him, and even Moses is unaware what plagues are coming. It almost seems Moses is just there to spat with Ramses, his jealous adoptive brother. All of the big turning points from the Bible are shown in the film, but events come about because of different circumstances, or even mere chance at times.
I can understand when the tale of Noah was expanded for this year’s movie. In the Old Testament, there isn’t much to Noah’s story, at least not enough to fill out a 2 hour film, so events had to be constructed. I didn’t like it, but I can understand the reasoning. But Moses’s unique life was full and exciting, and didn’t need the Hollywood touch to make it more thrilling. If you aren’t a believer, you probably have little desire to see this movie anyway, so why not tell it as it was written?
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