Review: Gods of Egypt BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE – 2.5/5

Gods of Egypt is a mess of a movie and the latest example that over-utilizes CGI to replace actual character development and story. This is a film that should’ve been a lot of fun but was a chore to sit through however on the plus side Gerard Butler seemed to be having a good old time.

Bek (BRENTON THWAITES), a mere mortal and Aladdin type fellow who makes ends by stealing including a magnificent dress for his love, Zaya (COURTNEY EATON), for her to wear to attend the crowning of Horus (NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU), the God of Air, passed on from his father, Osiris (BRYAN BROWN). However,

When Osiris (BRYAN BROWN), king of Egypt, is set to turn over the reign to his son Horus (NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU), Lord of the Air, his other son Set (GERARD BUTLER) kills his father and takes down Horus in a duel, sparing him only after Horus’ lady, Hathor (ELODIE YUNG), the Goddess of Love, offers herself to him though he steals his eyes (the key to his powers). Upon taking the crown, Set enslaves the poor to mine for gold and build monuments including a tower to reach and honor his grandfather, Ra (GEOFFREY RUSH), the God of Sun.

With Horus blinded and living in solitude and Zaya working as a servant to master architect Urshu (RUFUS SEWELL), Bek uses Zaya’s access to blueprints and breaks into a vault and after dodging Indiana Jones-esque traps, steals one of Horus’ eyes back and seeks him out in the hopes of defeating Set and freeing the Egyptian people. But upon escaping with Zaya, after being discovered by Urshu, Zaya is shot with an arrow, killed and sent to the underworld to travel to the gates where only those with riches may pass through while others are violently vanquished… or something. It’s a plot device to align Bek and Horus to get his other eye back so he may be at full strength to transform and defeat his uncle.

And that’s really the plot. There are other characters encountered such as Thoth (CHADWICK BOSEMAN), the god of writing and knowledge, some deception at hand when Bek learns that in spite of promising Horus can bring Zaya back from the dead, it’s a supposedly impossible feat and, of course, some CGI-on-CGI fighting between the transformed versions of Horus and Set whose designs seemed to be inspired by Pacific Rim.

The cast is actually isn’t half bad, though the controversy of it being too Caucasian was talked about, especially for a movie taking place and about Egypt, yet Gerard Butler, Courtney Eaton, Elodie Yung and Brentan Thwaites give fine performances while the latest attempt by an actor from “Game of Thrones”, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is more serviceable, but he lacks the charisma to carry the film, especially notable in the final speech. Rufus Sewell has a small role as a generic a-hole and Geoffrey Rush plays the usual cameo appearance but doesn’t get a whole lot to do.

Gods of Egypt was helmed by Alex Proyas who made his name from 1998’s Dark City but since, with the possible exception of I, Robot, hasn’t matched in terms of quality, although I am a fan of Knowing. Here, it would seem he overutilized visual effects to detriment of the story and, especially, characters. Like the Star Wars prequels, when you have so many effects, often taking place against a green screen, there’s no sense of danger and at times in this movie I felt like I was watching a video game cut scene, and the effects themselves looked like it could’ve come from a game…

In the end, I didn’t feel Gods of Egypt was awful and there were moments where I was actually entertained, particularly whenever Gerard Butler appeared, chewing up as much scenery as possible to the point I was having a lot of fun. As a rental, this might be a worthwhile watch.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

A Divine Vision: Creating a Cinematic Action Fantasy (11:48; HD) is a behind-the-scenes featurette on how the film got made with interviews by members of the cast and crew.

Of Gods and Mortals: The Cast (10:52; HD) breaks down the actors cast and the characters they play.

Transformation: Costume, Make-Up & Hair (11:10; HD) delves into the nuance of filming with the costumes and make-up work done.

On Location: Shooting in Australia (12:44; HD) is a featurette where filmmakers setting up shop down under.

The Battle for Eternity: Stunts (11:38; HD) breaks down the stunt work performed in the film.

A Window into Another World: Visual Effects (10:58; HD) – And in this final featurette the effects work is discussed. Given the amount of it that was in the movie, it could’ve been two hours long…

Deleted Storyboards (5:45; HD) – You can check out two storyboards that never got filmed.

Previews – Now You See Me 2, The Last Witch Hunter, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The Crow

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 5.0/5

OVERALL – 3.25/5