Exodus: Gods and Kings is a rather peculiar version of the story of Moses.
It includes the 10 plagues, including the plague of crocodiles, and a really spectacular parting of the Red Sea, though Moses seems to have little to do with any of these things. But it doesn't totally dodge the supernatural-- it shows God Himself as a little boy who just sort of hangs around watching Moses write the Ten Commandments and never says much of anything.
And it leaves out the Golden Calf and the 40 years in the wilderness. And despite director Ridley Scott's reported claim that one of the main things that interested him into making Exodus: Gods and Kings was the story of two brothers, Moses and the pharaoh, it leaves out the story of Moses' childhood, which is narrated but not shown.
What is shown is an incredible amount of conspicuous consumption in terms of production values, although the endless list of graphic artists in the end credits suggests that not all the massive sets and statues were actually built and a lot of the aerial shots of masses of people may not have been of real extras.
All in all, Exodus is one of the strangest pseudo-Biblical movies I've ever seen, an ill-conceived mixture of Cecil B. DeMille folkloric fundamentalism and pseudoscientific skepticism, plus whatever that inexplicable juvenile God represents.
But lovers of spectacle for its own sake, who seem to make up a considerable percentage of modern audiences, will not be disappointed by one of the most stunning displays of conspicuous consumption I've ever seen.
