Movie Review-Gods of Egypt

Gods of Egypt is an epic fantasy about fictional gods who ruled a world where humans and gods lived together in harmony. That is until an evil god, Set (Gerard Butler), decides to invade Egypt on the day of the new king’s coronation. Horus (Nikolaj Costner-Waldau), Sets nephew, is defeated by the god of darkness and exiled from Egypt. Horus also loses his eyesight in the battle and his one true love, Hathor-the goddess of love (Elodie Yung). Once in power, Set enslaves the mortals and proclaims that gold and wealth, not good deeds, is now the only way to the afterlife.

Meanwhile, Bek (Brenton Thwaites), a human boy loses his one true love when she becomes the chief builders slave girl (you may get a “10 Commandments” vibe on this like I did). He seeks out Horus and together the man and god go on a quest to overthrow Set and bring Egypt back to the just society that it once was. The quest unfolds in 3D on the big screen in splendor as they battle gods, demons and monsters along the way.

Lavish effects rule in this big budget fantasy movie. For me it was a mash up of Clash of the Titans and Transformers, possibly an odd mix, but the combination worked for me. Butler is perfectly cast as the god of darkness, Set, and Geoffrey Rush has a small part in the film as Ra, Sets father. He overlooks the world from his position in space and protects Egypt from an evil creature that constantly tries to destroy the world below. Also Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up and 42) has a role in the movie as Thoth, the god of knowledge. He nails the English accent he’s asked to deliver and is one of the few actors of color cast in the film. (I’m guessing the movie’s producers didn’t get the memo about the Egyptians originating from Eastern African and the Middle East.)   

Overall the movie works for me. It’s a grand adventure with plenty of sci-fi shape shifting, fictional creatures and plenty of fantasy battles. Gods of Egypt is rated PG-13 for violence and some sexuality and the movie’s run time is just over 2 hours at 127 minutes. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate Gods of Egypt a LARGE.

 

Hollywood Hernandez