Gods of Egypt 6/12016)

Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, and some sexuality.

Starring Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites and Geoffrey Rush

Directed by Alex Proyas (Knowing, The Crow, iRobot)

Gods of Egypt brings new meaning to the word silly.

In this action-adventure film, inspired by the classic mythology of Egypt, the survival of mankind hangs in the balance as an unexpected mortal hero Bek [Brenton Thwaites] undertakes a thrilling journey to save the world and rescue his true love. In order to succeed, he must enlist the help of the powerful god Horus [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau] in an unlikely alliance against Set [Gerard Butler], the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt’s throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. As their breathtaking battle against Set and his henchmen takes them into the afterlife and across the heavens, both god and mortal must pass tests of courage and sacrifice if they hope to prevail in the epic final confrontation.

This is another one of those weird little science fiction or fantasy movies like I, Frankenstein that seem to appear out of nowhere that don’t make a lick of sense. Gods of Egypt was written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless (The Last Witch Hunter), and directed by Australian Alex Proyas (Knowing)…not exactly blockbusters.

In this version of ancient Egypt, the gods are giants and they live alongside humans. Remember how that looked in The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Too bad, because this one doesn’t even compare to that CGI.

Gods of Egypt has no bearing on history and very little on mythology. It’s the sort of project where the writers take artistic license and dance on it. It doesn’t have to make sense because they only have to loosely follow the rules. This is why they thought it would be OK to have all white actors play Egyptians.

Most action sequences are beyond silly. The fighting and special effects make little to no sense and are not even fun to watch. Oh, and it’s 127-minutes long.

Gods of Egypt is neither well-acted, scripted or designed, and completely lacking in brand appeal, it’s a “Coaster.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The film contains a brief scene of intimacy between Set and Hator. Set is seen lying next to Hator on a bed and kissing her on the lips. The scene then cuts to the couple waking up in bed, where they are implied to be naked though no nudity is shown.

Violence occurs periodically over the course of the film, mostly involving hand-to-hand combat between the Egyptian gods where they are seen trading forceful blows with their weapons. In some combat sequences, some characters are seen impaled by sharp weapons.

While the scenes of violence contain some details of injuries, the impact is mitigated by the fantasy setting of the film (where the characters are mythical creatures which bleed golden-blood). The film also does not dwell on the infliction of pain and suffering.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. In the film, how is the afterlife depicted? And how were souls judged?


2. How did they gain eternal life?


3. How do we gain eternal life?

Read Ephesians 2:8-9

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.


4. How is that different from the film?