When I first heard about this movie I was intrigued and excited. It was nice to hear that a film was being made that was original as opposed to a remake. Also I have read quite a few of the Egyptian myths and at first I wondered which story they would choose to use for the movie. When I saw the preview I was curious to see how they would execute the story that they appeared to be telling.
When I talk with people about this film, many seemed unaware of it. I blame poor marketing and for the life of me I cannot understand any film that isn't an independent film not investing/allocating more money on their marketing. Gods of Egypt is obviously not the first film that has experienced this and it certainly won't be the last.
One guy that I mentioned this movie to was immediately critical because of the extensive use of CGI/special effects for the film as depicted in the trailer. He implied that as the movie used CGI so much it probably wasn't a good enough story to stand on its own without it. I agree that there are films that have used CGI that either didn't need it or they excessively used it so that it took away from the story. That is not the case with this film.
To anyone who shares my coworker's sentiments and thinks that this movie is just CGI and no story, I say that this film is a movie that needs CGI to tell the story as it is a story about gods. There is no way to adequately display the supernatural aspects of this story revolving around the gods without CGI. Gods are supposed to be awe inspiring. The story, the acting, etc is great but to fully convey the story without CGI would end up looking cheesy/ridiculous. The use of CGI was not excessive either.
I do agree that it is strange and unfortunate that no Egyptians were cast in any of the principal roles. That being said at least the director and producers were able to give some talented Australian actors and actresses a great movie to continue their respective careers in. That's a small consolation I know. Also of course they cast locally since that's logical. All in all the actors and actresses that were chosen for this film were all great.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was an excellent choice for Horus. Many of course know him from Game of Thrones in which he is also excellent. He's very good at playing a conflicted hero type who falls from grace but ultimately finds redemption in doing the right thing.
The plot of this film basically tells of Horus fighting Set to regain his throne and save Egypt from Set's madness. At what was supposed to be Horus's coronation Set battles and defeats Horus in a devastating defeat that most people would find nearly impossible to overcome physically and otherwise. At the coronation "our hero" Bek witnesses these events with his lady Zaya. In the time that follows Set taking over the throne Bek finds himself separated from Zaya as she is sold to the chief builder/engineer/architect played wonderfully by Rufus Sewell (He seems to enjoy portraying a cruel jerk and this works since he is great at it but anyway). Bek is forced into manual labor. Bek still manages to steal away to visit Zaya. Zaya inspires Bek to try to steal Horus's eyes from Set's vault as she believes that Horus is the only one who can save the people from Set. After Bek manages to steal one eye he tries to flee with Zaya but it doesn't go as planned. When Bek finds Horus, he demands Horus's assistance regarding Zaya in exchange for returning Horus's eye and helping to retrieve Horus's other eye. And so the journey begins.
There is much to enjoy about this picture. I confess I was pleasantly surprised. If you're looking for the movie that sticks close to the Egyptian myths you may be disappointed. I was slightly confused by one of the liberties taken with the myths but overall the movie did a great job sticking close to the myths but also adding its own spin. The changes that were made didn't feel disrespectful and it flowed very smoothly.
I do love that this film is a Hero's Journey but it's a God's Journey as well. It's not so uncommon I suppose but in my experience I have found that at best it is a Hero who becomes a God not a Hero traveling with a God while both are on their journey. The CGI works to seamlessly tell the story without being excessive and without taking away from the story.
I was very pleased to see Geoffrey Rush cast as Ra. He gave a great performance as the Sun God. He was exactly what I imagined Ra would be like, a proud father but also a fierce protector and warrior.
I also did enjoy the portrayal of Hathor Goddess of Love performed by Elodie Yung. I particularly enjoyed the reference to Hathor's "other side" although that might be the only portion of the movie that would actually require reading the Egyptian myths to find out more details.
Elodie Yung herself was wonderful as the Hathor who starts out as just another goddess only a little more since she is the goddess of love and who shows growth throughout the story. I did feel sorry for Elodie Yung in one sequence where she had to walk through water in a very lovely but "hardly a dress" dress. I have heard it said in multiple interviews from multiple actors and actresses that filming in water is rarely comfortable and I can imagine it was rather uncomfortable for her but still more power to her for making it happen.
Another thing that I loved about this story was the way the story played out. Our heroes at various times found themselves strong then defeated which isn't so unusual. Yet as the story progressed I found myself wondering how is this going to work out? Is it going to be a neat tidy ending? Or is it going to be more realistic? How are we even going to get to the ending with the way things are going?
Obviously I'm not going to say more about the ending. I hope I didn't spoil it too much for anyone. I hope that more people will give this a shot. The violence depicted in this picture isn't excessive but it would be obviously up to the parental units if it would be appropriate for smaller children. The violence in the Jurassic Park films is worse I think than in this picture if that helps.
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