20th Century Fox unleashed the first full trailer for Sir Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings this morning, and the two terms that come to mind, appropriately, are "Epic" and "Biblical." Starring Christian Bale as Moses, Exodus tells the Old Testament story of the great leader’s exile in Egypt, and his struggle to win back his holy home land from Rhamses (Joel Edgerton).
So what do we get in the trailer? Locusts. Frogs. Fire and brimstone. A screaming Christian Bale, trying to out-Heston the greatest on-screen Moses the industry has ever seen. And we get a towering Red Sea, ready to crash down on all who dare part it. So yeah, this is Ridley Scott dialing it up to Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven levels, with a pinch of Robin Hood, for good measure.
If I’m surprised by anything in the Exodus trailer, it’s full-on embrace of God from a film industry that has shied away from such verbage. (Remember how Noah danced around the issue back in March?) The conclusion of this massive trailer tries to run through the highlights of the Moses story, delivering rivers of blood:
Frogs raining down from the heavens:
Those pesky locusts:
And, of course, the final confrontation in the middle of a parted Red Sea-GI:
But when you hire Sir Ridley Scott to direct your Old Testament drama, this is what you expect, right? Sweeping desert vistas, with passionate (over)acting from stoic leading men, set against a backdrop of busy, green-screened carnage. I mentioned the touchstone films on Scott’s resume that serves a visual cues for Exodus: Gods and Kings. Ridley Scott rode Russell Crowe to success in this genre multiple times, for Gladiator and – to a lesser extent -- Robin Hood. Can he do it again? Exodus: Gods and Kings opens in theaters on December 12. Does this trailer get you excited?
