Gods of Egypt

A thorough lesson in exaggerated ambition and the negative effect of overblown visuals on the nature of the viewer's experience. Few contemporary films have so stirred in me the dilemma of whether Hollywood requires audiences to go to the cinema to see its expensive, highly marketed products because of what they say, or because of how they say it. Gods of Egypt, from a (formerly) A-list director, applies a huge amount of cliché and genre certainty to form the skeleton of its plot, only to be treated without a second thought to visual effects that look inadequate for the budget, unemotional fight or romantic interludes, two famous actors' faces, and a bunch of B-movie slow-motion or sped-up scenes that are rather counterproductive and often uninteresting and irrelevant in relation to the story. What the film can be credited with, however, is certainly its action-oriented audiovisual verve, which throughout its surprisingly short 120 minutes makes it at least a worthy product of unpretentious and mindless cinematic entertainment. Not in the style of last year's Mad Max, which manoeuvred on a far more coherent yet far less hackneyed plot platform, but rather as the formally unbridled masturbation of its creator, who had seen a lot of similar fantasies and tried, for more money and at a faster pace, to create the most modern and honest sibling for them. What would the Wachowskis, for example, have given for something like this in the sci-fi field last year. 60% (05/03/2016)

When I was thinking about how I should review this movie, I looked at the reviews of the newish Clash of the Titans, to which I gave four stars back then. But then I realized that one star was given to Gemma Arterton, who showed off in any way possible. Here, there were not enough chicks for my eyeballs. There were some, but nothing that would dazzle you. On the other hand, it is exactly what you might imagine. Only with the difference that Alex Proyas is not low-grade, and so he turned Gods of Egypt not only into a fantasy, but at times into a sci-fi. And I have to say that I didn’t mind. A pleasant and pretty movie wind down that is story-wise crazier by the minute. And that’s good. Because you don’t know beforehand what you will get. (25/05/2016)

If you still like to watch any episode of TV's Hercules or Xena now and then and enjoy the deliberately simple naivety and bickering of mortals and gods and goddesses who don't go far for a 21st century catchphrase, Gods of Egypt is for you. The film is nothing more than a relaxing fantasy, which fortunately is not take itself seriously. It's a pity that the film is not shorter and a bit more interestingly cast (all the actors are of course dominated by Geoffrey Rush as the god Re, who circles the flat Earth with his ark, dragging the Sun behind him).___P.S. Great music by Marco Beltrami!___P.P.S. I've seen the dubbed version and it's not terrible, except for Gerard Butler, who is voiced by Zdeněk Mahdal. (26/02/2016)

I didn’t have high hopes for this film, but it surprised me by not being as bad as I expected. It was a cross between Prince of Persia and Ancient Egyptian Transformers. Gerard Butler and Kingslayer were excellent, and I even had a few laughs. I wasn't exactly blown away by it, but I was having fun the whole time, so a 3+. (24/08/2016)

When I went to the cinema to see Gods of Egypt, I was expecting a heroic audiovisual orgy with nothing to surprise me. And I wasn’t too far off the mark, as this film more or less fits the previous description. It's a truly colourful film, with a large number of imaginative elements that both help and hurt it. I rolled my eyes considerably during the scenes in which the gods are transported in chariots by birds and bugs, and the same was true of their Terminator-like appearance. On the other hand, I was probably most impressed by the line with Geoffrey Rush, who elevated the overall acting quality. A film to fill an evening, with which one of the most overused critical clichés can be applied: “It neither impresses nor offends.” (14/03/2016)