Cast: Gerald Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Courtney Eaton, Elodie Yung
Director: Alex Proyas
Genre: Fantasy
Duration: 127 minutes
Now showing: Cinema Magic Metroplex Mall Naalya and Century Cinemax Acacia Mall Kisementi
The first and last time I had about the Egyptian gods was in a Senior One history class. They were fascinating and I always felt bad that their Olympian counterparts seemed to take the limelight. Just think of all the books and movies you have read and watched about Zeus, Apollo or Aphrodite. So you can understand my excitement when I heard about an upcoming movie on the Egyptian gods.
With the Egyptian empire having an influence on what happens in the rest of the world, whoever is at its helm has great power. We know that the bad guys always want such power and we don’t get disappointed here. Set (Butler), the god of all things evil takes over the throne, bringing with him every dark tendency he has. In short, things look hopeless for everyone. Enter our hero Bek (Thwaites), who is a mortal on a mission to mainly save his lady love, Zaya (Eaton) but figures he can also save the world while at it. Taking on the god of darkness is not a task you pull off on your own so he teams up with Horus (Coster-Waldau), the god who should rightfully be at the helm.
The movie’s strongest suit is that it is one of the few original movies we are seeing these days. It is not a sequel, based on real life events or a book. It is, therefore, a point of interest if like me, you love to see what scriptwriters come up with when they have the makings of a blank canvas to work with. The element of surprise is, therefore, on this movie’s side.
However, the movie has been getting a lot of bad press because of its cast, which may affect how it is received. The complaint was that the cast had a largely White cast yet the movie is set in Egypt. If you have been following entertainment news, you know how big the diversity issue is at the moment. The director apologised for this, saying since he was not working from actual events or people, he had exercised his artistic license. It remains to be seen how this will affect box office numbers.