Gods of Egypt (2016)

Movie Info

Set doesn’t play well with others

King Osiris (Bryan Brown) is about to pass on his title to his son Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau)…much to the dismay of his brother Set (Gerard Butler).  When Set decides to claim the kingdom for himself, Horus ends up blinded and living in exile as Set hold the people under his ruthless rule.  Zaya (Courtney Eaton) believes in Horus, and her thief boyfriend Bek (Brenton Thwaites) doesn’t have the same faith in the gods.  When Bek and Horus find themselves thrown together in an attempt to save the kingdom, Horus discovers how far his uncle will go to stop him.

Directed by Alex Proyas, Gods of Egypt is an action-adventure fantasy.  The film received criticism for its largely white cast and poor reviews while underperforming at the box office.  It received Razzie nominations for Worst Actor (Butler), Worst Screen Combo (Any 2 Egyptian Gods or Mortals), Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

Riddle me this…will I have a future outside of this movie?

I like mythology, and I’ve liked Alex Proyas’s films in the past…but I had no interest in Gods of Egypt.  I randomly watched Gods of Egypt, and while the movie wasn’t great, it does have this big and bold look that is fun.

The movie feels like something along the lines of Clash of the Titans.  It is a lot of gobbledygook fantasy talk and a blending of actual Egyptian myth with myth manufactured for the movie.  The adventure is rather bland and it is pretty obvious how it will end.  The movie is a popcorn movie and feels like a popcorn movie.  If you don’t take it seriously, you can enjoy it as fluff.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was hot on Game of Thrones, and he seems to play a similarly gruff character (he also feels like he’s auditioning for Solid Snake of Metal Gear Solid fame).  Gerard Butler also plays a slightly less boisterous version of his 300 character (and also imposing).  Chadwick Boseman’s vain Thoth could have done more, and Bryan Brown and Rufus Sewell feel wasted.  Élodie Yung, Brenton Thwaites, and Courtney Eaton’s roles are rather dull and paper thin.

“Uncle Set tried to kill me” makes holiday gatherings awkward

The movie is a visual feast.  It is a designer’s dream with lots of fantasy elements, but it also lacks any real texture to the film’s visuals.  It feels very chromakey and that the actors are just on a big blank stage.  That takes away from the epic feel, but opposed to something like 300, it also doesn’t have distinctive enough visuals to really impress.

It feels like Gods of Egypt is hedging its bets.  It is going the Star Wars route by making a complete feature, but if the movie had performed, I could see us getting multiple sequels to the movie.  The movie didn’t get the audience it hoped for, and it is rather easy to see why when compared to other similar blockbuster movies.  Egyptian myth is rich, and there are so many movies that tap into Greek and Roman myth that I wish the gods of Egypt would get another chance…but Gods of Egypt isn’t the answer to that.