"I'm willing to fight for an eternity."
It almost felt like an eternity watching this film. Which is heavily disappointing given that this is my favorite story from the Bible.
The Plot
Moses (Christian Bale), the prized general of Egypt discovers that he is actually a Hebrew slave's son. When Ramses (Joel Edgerton), a man Moses once viewed as a brother and now Pharaoh of Egypt, learns of this truth, he has Moses banished from Egypt. But in exile, Moses discovers his true course in life as a messenger for God.
Analysis
I'm going to address this in here. I was one of the many people who is not bothered by the race issue. I love The Ten Commandments. It is one of my favorite movies of all time and my favorite Biblical movie. Which is filled with many, and I mean many, white people in bronzer and eye liner. Lots of bronzer and eye liner. Granted, I was just 8 when I saw the movie and the picture book Bible that I read had illustrations that depict everyone as white. So I just assumed that's the way it was, and never questioned it. However, as I got older and delved into other mythologies and the regions they originate from, it was a shock for me to find out that Egypt is in Africa. And even more shocking was discovering that the people who originally inhabited the region were black. So that changed my perception of Egypt, but that didn't make me angry about Yul Brener playing Ramses. It was just nice knowing that information.
So when the time came for Ridley Scott to take up the reins of Exodus, I was curious what the casting would be like. And as I predicted, most of them are white. Now, there are a couple of reasons why I know this was going to happen. For one, the Egyptians are technically the antagonists of the film. If black actors and actresses were to be casted as the Egyptians, it would've been praised for some but bashed by others. Mainly because, having a large African nation be portrayed as the villains and being punished by God will not sit well for some Black Civil Rights groups. It would be viewed as a demonizing of blacks as well as white propaganda to show that God hates black people. And it would be strengthen even more if the Hebrews, who are Jewish, are portrayed by nothing but white actors. Which would've added to the fire. Which brings me to another point.
The Hebrews who would become the Jewish people who inhabit Jerusalem today do not look the way they do now. In fact, they look more like dark skinned Arabs rather than the fair skinned people that are associated with Judaism today. So if Hollywood were to cast the Hebrews properly with the matching ethnicity of the time, they would have to be of Arab descent. The problem? Most Arabs have an Islamic background, meaning they are forbidding from portraying their Prophets or any story from the Quran in any shape or form. In short, they're forbidden from playing anyone in Holy Texts. That includes The Bible or The Talmud. Which automatically dismisses them from portraying anyone like Moses or the Hebrews in this movie. So of course other ethnicities have to be considered. But then again, although that should be the logic behind the casting, there is a primary truth as to why white people were casted: White Christians.
America still has a large white Christian population that prefers seeing famous white actors portraying their beloved Prophets as white people. This has been embedded in their mindset since the days of Charlton Heston, and it is not going away any time soon in our generation or the next. So with that in mind, I view that as a the primary reason why white people are still casted in ethnic roles today. But if there were to be other arguments besides that, then I would just point to my stances on how black people would react and why most Arabs cannot act in these films. It is just an endless cycle of problem after problem because the world is full of intolerable people. I don't care how much people make claims of "It's 2014" or "It's 2035" because I can guarantee you intolerance will never change. So no, I don't have a problem with white people being in this movie... for the first minute of the film.
Review
It is a jarring thing, seeing John Tuturro play a Pharaoh. His performance wasn't memorable, yet what was most memorable about him is how much I felt he doesn't belong in this movie. And that's the saddest part about this movie. The most memorable thing about it, is seeing how much all these white actors in Egyptian roles don't seem to belong in the film. Which should tell you something about someone who doesn't care about the race issue of casting. That doesn't mean I think all of them were out of place.
Joel Edgerton as Ramses was not jarring for me to look at. This was probably because he was heavily promoted, which prepared my mind to accepting him as playing this ancient Egyptian king. But because he was the only one heavily promoted in the trailers and TV spots, my mind couldn't adjust when I see the like Tuturro, Sigourney Weaver and countless other accomplished white actors in these roles. It's like my mind could not accept any of them except for Edgerton. Yet my mind was accepting of Indira Varma as the High Priestess, probably because she's not white. So yes, it will be jarring because something just doesn't seem right about these actors playing these roles. But it doesn't prevent them from being good actors in their roles.
Edgerton was fine as Ramses. He is pretty much a spoiled brat who was given little attention by his father, which gives him this ego that he has to be better than his father. Edgerton plays it as best as he could, yet I couldn't help but feeling like a lot was missing from his story. In fact, I feel like a lot was missing from this story. Mainly the relationship between his character and Christian Bale's Moses. A relationship that should've been the heart of this movie, and it was set up at the beginning brilliantly, but it never really amounted to anything. Which is such a waste because Bale plays a great Moses. It would've been powerful to have these two powerhouse actors play two brothers who have to face off against each other, but it never feels like the relationship was firmly established to make us feel that way.
Bale's Moses is pretty much a different take on the character. This Moses is more of an atheist who after suffering a trauma becomes a babbling psychopath who now believes in God. So much so that he even speaks to God, who in this film is portrayed as a highly intelligent and merciless child. This interpretation of God and Moses probably stems from director Ridley Scott's atheist beliefs but tries so hard to rationalize it in a politically correct manner as to not to offend any atheists who watch the film. Which, while interesting, devoid the film of something that is important for a Biblical epic: Wonder.
All the plagues and the miraculous acts of "God" in this film have scientific explanations. In other words, this movie makes it all seem like a coincidence. The atheistic Moses just happened to start believing in God and just happened to return to Egypt when all these devastating plagues are happening at the same time. The Red Sea just happens to part at the moment Moses and his people needed it to, not because God parted the Red Sea. Which is pretty disappointing for someone who was in awe of the Red Sea sequence in The Ten Commandments to just see the Red Sea in this film be the sudden shifting of the tides. The Egyptians in the film even try so hard to explain how everything has an explanation and is not an act of God. And because of this, this sense of wonder and power is gone. I don't care what your belief is, but even my atheist friends know, if you're doing a film about Moses, it needs to show off the power of God.
So all in all, a movie that really only has two memorable performances in it: Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton, and a politically correct way of explaining how God works for non-believer audiences, becomes a movie that has no soul. I highly doubt casting ethnically appropriate actors could save this movie, because it would've still have the same problems. With a lack of a strong relationship between Moses and Ramses along with a very boring explanation of how all the acts of God happen in this movie, the best Biblical story is now the worst one. It is beautiful to watch, but just because something is beautiful, doesn't mean it has personality.
Final Thoughts
Darren Aronofsky is an atheist who grew up Jewish and used his Jewish background to craft a dark story about Noah. Yet, that film still had something wonderful and magical about it that makes it feel special and miraculous despite the dark subject matter it explores. Ridley Scott is an atheist who puts his views into a Biblical films and instead of trying to make something fantastical, as one should, he instead makes something that has no soul. There was a soul in Noah, and that was made by an atheist. So how is it that a director who has been around longer than Aronofsky and created one of the most magical fairy tale films in the 80s, Legend, could not create something wonderful and empowering with this film? Because to be honest, it is a boring remake of Gladiator. No joke. If you think about it, this film is not a Bible film, it is a plot for plot remake of Gladiator.
SCORE: 4/10 - Bale and Edgerton are wasted in this beautiful, boring remake of Gladiator
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