• [Review] Gods of Egypt

    From Your Name@21:1/5 to All on Tue Mar 8 13:17:51 2016
    This is the review of the "The Expanse" from the TimeOut entertainment
    section of the New Zealand Herald newspaper (3 March, 2016) ...

    Gods of Egypt
    -------------
    A faulty pyramid scheme.

    Soap opera melodrama and visual effects wizardry combine
    in a mythical Egyptian fantasy adventure - and it's an
    uncomfortable mix.

    Gerard Butler has experience with ancient myths, making
    a name for himself as Spartan King Leonidas in fantasy
    action film 300. Here he's the Egyptian god Set, the
    powerful meglomaniac god of the desert who steals Egypt
    from his nephew Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).

    Set steals Horus' crown on his coronation day, rips out
    his eyes, the source of his power, and exiles him.
    Peaceful Egypt descends into chaos as Set enslaves all
    mortals to build a phallic monument to the creator of all
    things, Ra (geoffrey Rush), and kills all the gods who
    defy him.

    In an attempt to get his life back, a plucky teenager
    thief called Bek (Brenton Thwaites) comes up with a plan
    to steal Horus' eyes from Set's treasury in the hope
    Horus will rise up against his evil uncle. In order to
    fulfill his plan, Bek hops, skips and jumps through a
    series of booby-trapped bridges like a young Indiana
    Jones, and after completing his mission, slips into the
    role of Horus' sidekick.

    Egyptian historical pop culture gets a good going-over,
    there are pyramids and sphinxes, curvaceous women
    half-dressed in beaded robes, gods who transform into
    metallic flying beasts as they battle in the sky, and a
    trip to the underworld. Horus and Bek even venture into
    space, where Ra keeps Apophis, the god of darkness, at
    bay each night.

    However, no amount of testosterone or Lord of the
    Rings-style trickery (making the humans hobbit-sized in
    comparison to the gods) can make us believe Gerard Butler
    and co are anywhere but on a movie set.

    No matter how grand the cityscapes and monuments, or how
    luxuriant the palatial rooms with excessive billowing
    curtains, the actors look silly, superimposed as they
    are into a cheesy hyper-fantasy.

    Gerard Butler is more than comfortable as Set, while a
    buffed Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is less convincing, although
    it's hard to pick if that's because of a hesitancy to
    throw himself into the role or a misguided interpretation
    of a meek character.

    The humorous throwaway lines don't work as well as in,
    say, Marvel's Thor franchise, the frenetic fight scenes
    are repetitive, and the love scenes corny. But at least
    Gods of Egypt doesn't take itself too seriously.


    Verdict: Aims for ridiculous, camp and fun - but misses.

    Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)

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