Exodus: Gods and Kings 2014 (PG-13)
This movie was wildly
inaccurate and a waste of time. There
were so many historical errors and major variations from the actual biblical
account that it was like a completely different story. I felt sorry for anyone who watched this film
to try and learn the story for the first time. It would take a year in Sunday School to get all of the misinformation
out of his or her head! Here are only a few
of the errors in the film: God is inexplicably depicted as a young British boy
with a nasty, vindictive attitude. Moses
backtalks and is disrespectful to God. When
Moses is before the burning bush, he is buried up to his neck in a mudslide (in
the desert, mind you). None of the
actual dialogue in the Bible between Moses and God is used. Moses is not shown to humble, reluctant, or
even to stammer in the film. When Moses
returns to Egypt, Pharaoh and Moses hardly ever talk face to face, even during
the plagues. In reality, they spoke
almost every day. Moses never warns
Pharaoh or says, "Let my people go". God only sends the plagues to stop Moses from building an army and
blowing up Egyptian buildings. Where do
they get this stuff? Don't Hollywood
producers know that their target audience is believers who know the story
inside and out and will take offense to it being changed? If the original
story has captivated people's interest worldwide for centuries, why mess with
it? This is not a Disney movie where no one will know any better if you take
artistic liberties with an obscure medieval fable that very few people have
read. I seriously doubt that the
producers of this film consulted with leaders of Judaism, Christianity and
Islam like those of “Prince of Egypt” did. I think this movie would offend just about anyone.
The
film did a good job on the special effects on the plagues and the crossing of
the Red Sea, but Moses did not use a sword to part the waters; it was his
staff. I don’t recall Moses even having
a sword, but the film obsesses on it. Also,
wasn't the pharaoh Moses' father, not his brother? The story was written as a father son conflict,
not a sibling rivalry. That dynamic
works just fine in the original story. Why does Hollywood keep wanting to change it? Other sloppy stuff included bronze swords
that were as strong as steel, Africans in the Hittite army, and the wrong style
of armor and swords for the Egyptian army. They did not look right; they look too medieval. Common Egyptian weapons are not depicted. The Hittites’ huge advantage of iron weapons is
not shown. This was their most important
military invention. It literally changed
the entire form of warfare in the era. Alas, the poor Hittites, I have yet to see a movie get them right.
The
movie really plays up the theme of Moses as a general. There is absolutely no evidence that he was at
the Battle of Kadesh fighting the Hittites, and he definitely did not have an
army until after the Israelites left Egypt. How could they build weapons (let alone
explosives) and train without the Egyptians noticing it? Wouldn't the Israelite slaves be too exhausted
after making bricks all day? They also
show Moses touching the Ark of the Covenant with his bare hands and he remains
unharmed. The Bible clearly demonstrates
that people died if they touched it.
The
film has many anachronisms as well. Pillows, camels, cactuses, stirrups, horseshoes, and archers firing from
horseback are shown even though these things came into use much later. The Sphinx is shown with its modern day wear
and tear and having missing parts instead of looking new. There were no mountains in Pithom, so Pharaoh’s
soldiers did not die by falling off the cliffs. Pyramids are shown inside the city instead of out in the desert. Pharaoh is even shown wearing a queen’s
crown. Sloppy, sloppy! Was there no historical consultant for this
film?
This
film has zero educational value. It will
only misinform and confuse your students. It will require extensive reteaching to get
back to the historical facts about Moses.