The fact that almost every actor in
Gods of Egypt is from northern Europe rather than Egypt (or even the general region) has raised eyebrows, but it's the least of the film's problems. Directed by Alex Proyas (
Dark City;
I, Robot) and written by the guys behind
Dracula Untold and
The Last Witch Hunter—these are red flags, people—this is a dopey series of adventures in which a mortal street urchin, Bek (Brenton Thwaites), teams up with blinded god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to retrieve Horus’s stolen eyes, rescue Bek's girlfriend (Courteny Eaton) from the afterlife, and depose Horus’s uncle Set (Gerard Butler) from the throne of Egypt, which he stole by killing Horus's father. Grandpa Ra the sun god (Geoffrey Rush) is also involved, living on a platform in space (as one does). The movie is loaded with special effects, many of which are unconvincing, making it an expensive, cheap-looking dud with careless dialogue, an overstuffed plot and little sense of drama or excitement. Actual Egyptians should be relieved that this plague passed over them.
By
Eric D. Snider