If The Mummy met Transformers then you have something along the lines of what this movie is doing. Is it a visual spectacle, a romance, an action movie, a history lesson or a bit of all of the above?
It’s no surprise that now movie producers have brought out many movies set in the future, the past is worth a quick revisit too. X-Men Apocalypse gave us a quick glimpse as to what Egypt looked like back in the day, so I assume this movie will look at the world of the pharaohs and kings in a little more detail.
The film itself is set back in the days long Before Christ (BC), where the Gods live on the plains of the Earth and rule over man in a fair and dignified manner. The current King of Egypt, Osiris (Bryan Brown), is ready to pass on his title to his son, Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), in an event of huge significance. The Gods actually look like regular people except the CGI shows them as about 1.5x – 2x the size of a normal person and this actually works quite well, a lot like the Hobbits and Dwarves in Lord of the Rings.
During the ceremony, Lord Set (Osiris’s brother; Gerrard Butler) arrives, kills Osiris, and after beating Horus in combat removes both of his eyes. For those not in the know, the Eyes of Horus were said to be magnificent jewels of eyes that could allow one to see their enemies coming from miles away and have pinpoint accuracy and detail over long distances. Basically, a hunter’s eye, which is fitting as Horus is mainly portrayed as a falcon.
With his foes vanquished, Set takes over the rule of Egypt and decrees that the only way to gain entry to the afterlife is to pay your way in. The rich survive and get to live eternally whilst the poor are condemned to a life of pain and misery… sounds a little familiar. He builds an army and goes after the remaining Gods who will not side with him, including his ex-wife, interestingly.
On the flip side of this story, we are also introduced to Bek (Brenton Thwaites), the young mortal protagonist, and his lovely girlfriend Zaya (Courtney Eaton) who he will do anything for. Bek just so happens to be an incredibly nimble and agile thief, and after Set’s rule begins he becomes friends with Horus by stealing one of his eyes back. He bargains with the God and persuades him to challenge Set for the throne, in order to save his Zaya from a mortal wound.
The two become the unlikely duo to take on other Gods, demons and dark deities from the Egyptian legends, with a host of jokes and witty one-liners that would not feel out of place in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The graphics, I have to say, are quite impressive. There has been no expense spared on this movie; it actually cost over $140 million to make, and that’s including a tax-free grant from the Australian government…
I mentioned the Transformers movie at the beginning of this article and there is a good reason for that… When the Gods want to have their epic fights with one another they have the ability to transform into animals draped in a metal armour that glistens when hit by light. They are very impressive and have a host of special powers to aid their particular field of expertise; Horus can grow wings and fly, Set turns into a kind of dog, but the most awesome God of all has to be Ra, who is portrayed by the brilliant Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean – Captain Barbosa) and can simply burst into flame and be a shining light for all mankind whilst fighting the terrible night beast that makes a terrifying appearance in the movie.
I can’t fault the movie but I wasn’t overly “wowed” by what it had to offer. I think there could have been some more epic moments in it and the whole movie felt like it dragged a little thanks to the poor comedy and unrealistic casting. Whilst Gerrard Butler does what he does best by shouting loudly and hitting things very hard, he wasn’t a very brilliant villain. I would stick to being the hero or psycho Gerrard, it suits you.
Author: Andrew, Eton store
