Gods of Egypt: Movie Review

More like Gods of CGI 

Gods of Egypt is a 2016 fantasy film directed by Alex Proyas and stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, and Geoffrey Rush. 

In ancient Egypt, Gods and Goddesses live amongst humans, and the god, Horus (Waldau), is to be crowned the new king of Egypt. During the ceremony, the god of the desert, Set, (Butler) appears to claim the throne for himself. He fights Horus, and steals his eyes, stripping Horus of his power. All of Egypt is then put under Set's rule. One year later, a thief named Bek finds Horus and the two agree to set out to find Horus's eyes and save Egypt and all of the world from Set's evil reign. 

Wait a minute, somebody steals the throne for himself, and a hero must fight his way back to defeat the evil tyrant and restore order? That sounds a lot like Gladiator, only this time, a truckload of CGI is involved. Gods of Egypt is one of those films that goes for style over substance, flashiness over realism. The cost normally associated with films that go in the pure-visuals direction is the loss of credibility when it comes to story, characterization, and thoughtful themes. The story/plot of Gods of Egypt? Disjointed. The characters? Forgettable. Themes? Forget about it. 

High Points:

- The entertainment factor. If you look at Gods of Egypt from a strictly entertainment perspective, it delivers. The film provides no apparent reason to engage your brain, but will still find a way to please you the way something like Sharknado would. 

Low Points: 

- The fluctuating tone. Gods of Egypt goes back and forth from being a serious-minded adventure to a comical and light-hearted one. One moment the characters are engaged in a serious conflict, and then the next, they begin cracking jokes as if the actors forgot that the camera was still rolling. Apparently, saving the world is like an easy, part-time job to these characters. 

- Gerard Butler's performance. For the most part, Butler acts like any typical villain hell-bent on world domination, but he also has some laughable dialogue ("Can you make it any taller?", "I tore the wings off my wife. Imagine what I'll do to YOU"), and acts as if he knows when the movie will shift tone, aiming to be serious when the film is serious, and then being comical when the movie is comical. With one too many humorous remarks, Butler fails to convince us he is a villain worth cheering against. 

Gods of Egypt may entertain viewers with low-enough expectations, but the overuse of CGI (some of which isn't even that great) and general sense of silliness, spawning from its fluctuating tone, keep it from being memorable and worthwhile. 

Recommend? No 

Grade: D+