Psycho's Movie Reviews #150: Gods Of Egypt (2016)

Gods of Egypt is a 2016 fantasy action film directed by Alex Proyas based on the ancient Egyptian deities. It stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Élodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Rufus Sewell, Gerard Butler, and Geoffrey Rush. The film portrays the Egyptian god Horus who partners with a mortal Egyptian thief, on a quest to rescue his love, and to save the world from Set.

Filming took place in Australia under the film production and distribution company Summit Entertainment in conjunction with Thunder Road Pictures and Proyas' production company Mystery Clock Cinema. While the film's production budget was $140 million, the parent company Lionsgate's financial exposure was less than $10 million due to tax incentives and pre-sales. The Australian government provided a tax credit for 46% of the film's budget. When Lionsgate began promoting the film in November 2015, it received backlash for its predominantly white cast playing Egyptian deities. In response, Lionsgate and director Proyas apologized for ethnically inaccurate casting.

Lionsgate released Gods of Egypt in theatres globally, starting on February 25, 2016, in 2D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D, and in the United States, Canada, and 68 other markets on February 26. It grossed a total of $150 million against a $140 million budget, becoming a box office bomb and losing the studio up to $90 million. It received five nominations at the 37th Golden Raspberry Awards.

Plot

In an alternative ancient Egypt where the gods live among the mortals, King Osiris is killed by his jealous brother Set during the coronation of Osiris's son Horus. Set seizes the throne and declares that mankind must pay riches to pass into the afterlife. Stripped of his eyes, Horus is exiled as Egypt is driven to its knees.

One year later, a thief named Bek is given the plans for Set's pyramid by his lover Zaya, a slave to chief architect Urshu. Bek steals one of Horus' eyes from Set’s treasure vault, but is caught by Urshu. Zaya is killed, and Bek takes her body to Horus and gives him the eye, promising to find the other if he brings Zaya back from the dead.

They visit the divine vessel of Horus' grandfather Ra. Neutral about the conflict with Set, and at war with the shadow beast Apophis that threatens to devour the world, Ra does not restore Horus’ power, but allows him to take a vial of divine waters to weaken Set. Ra explains that Horus’ loss of his powers is the result of not fulfilling his destiny, which Horus believes means avenging his parents' deaths.

Set asks Hathor to take him to the underworld, but she refuses and escapes. After an attack by Minotaurs led by Mnevis, followed by other minions and giant cobras, Hathor rescues Horus and Bek. Horus is mistrustful of Hathor, who claims Set is also her enemy. Bek and Horus explain their plan to infiltrate Set's pyramid, and Hathor warns of a guardian sphinx. They visit the library of Thoth to recruit the god to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Overcoming the pyramid's entryway and the sphinx's riddle (the answer being "tomorrow"), they reach the source of Set's power. Before they can use the divine water, Set traps them, destroying the divine water and taking Thoth's brain, but Horus saves Hathor and Bek. Sacrificing her own safety, Hathor gives Bek her bracelet as payment (for Zaya) for the afterlife and calls Anubis to take him to Zaya, letting herself be dragged to the underworld.

Absorbing Thoth's brain, Osiris's heart, Horus's other eye, and wings from Nephthys, Set confronts Ra about his mistreatment, which Ra explains were tests to prepare Set for his true role: taking Ra's place aboard his solar barge as defender of the world against Apophis. Dismayed, Set decides to destroy the afterlife to become immortal. Ra blasts him with his spear, but Set survives through his absorbed powers. He stabs Ra, taking his spear and casting him off the barge, freeing Apophis to consume the mortal and underworld realms.

Zaya refuses Hathor's gift, not wanting an afterlife without Bek. Apophis attacks, and the gate to the afterlife is closed. Bek returns to the mortal world, determined to stop Set and encouraging Horus that Zaya still had faith in him.

Horus battles Set atop an obelisk, but is heavily outmatched. Bek throws Urshu to his death and joins the battle on the obelisk, removing Horus' stolen eye from Set's armor, but is mortally wounded. Sliding toward the edge of the obelisk, Bek throws the eye to Horus, who must choose either to catch it or to save Bek. Horus reaches for Bek, apologizing for all he has put him through. As they plummet toward the ground, Horus regains his power to transform, flying Bek to safety. Horus realizes that his true destiny was to protect his people. With renewed strength, Horus outmaneuvers and kills Set. Finding Ra wounded in the aether, Horus returns his spear, allowing Ra to repel Apophis, and Anubis to reopen the gates.

A child in the crowd returns Horus' other eye and the god lays a dying Bek in Osiris's tomb beside Zaya. For his deeds, Ra offers to bestow Horus with any power, but all Horus wants is to bring Bek and Zaya back to life. Ra grants his wish and the other gods are restored, except Horus' parents, who had already passed into the afterlife. Horus is crowned king and declares access to the afterlife will be paid with good deeds in life. Bek is made chief advisor and gives Horus Hathor's bracelet; Horus leaves to rescue her from the underworld.

Production

Development

Gods of Egypt is directed by Alex Proyas based on a screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The film was produced under Summit Entertainment. Proyas was contracted by Summit in May 2012, to write the screenplay with Sazama and Sharpless, and to direct the film. Proyas said he sought to make a big-budget film with an original premise, to contrast franchise films. The director cited the following films as influences on Gods of Egypt: The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Sergio Leone's Western films. Lionsgate anticipated that Gods of Egypt would be the first film in a new franchise after it finished releasing The Hunger Games films.

Casting

Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was cast in June 2013. Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush, and Brenton Thwaites joined the cast toward the end of 2013. Chadwick Boseman and Élodie Yung joined the cast at the start of 2014.

Filming

The film was shot in Australia. A crew of 200 began pre-production in Sydney in New South Wales, and producers considered filming in Melbourne in Victoria, to take advantage of the state's tax incentive. Docklands Studios Melbourne was too booked to accommodate Gods of Egypt, and producers were instead offered an airport facility for production. The Australian states New South Wales and Victoria competed to be the location of the film's production, and Summit selected NSW in February 2014. The state's deputy premier, Andrew Stoner, estimated that the production would add 400 jobs to the state and contribute $75 million to its economy.

Principal photography began on March 19, 2014 at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.[16] The setting of Anubis' temple was filmed at Centennial Park in Sydney, and visual effects were laid over the scene. The production budget was $140 million. Jon Feltheimer, the CEO of Summit's parent company Lionsgate, said Lionsgate's financial exposure was under $10 million due to tax incentives of filming in Australia, as well as foreign pre-sales. The Australian government's tax credit to have the film produced in the country covered 46% of the $140 million production budget, and most of the remaining budget was covered by the foreign pre-sales.

In the film, the gods in humanoid form are 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and in "battle beast" form are over 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. Proyas used forced perspective and motion control photography to portray the difference in height between the actors portraying the gods and the humans. Proyas called the logistical challenge a "reverse Hobbit", referring to The Lord of the Rings films, in which Hobbits are depicted as shorter than humans. For the Sphinx, actor Kenneth Ransom portrayed the giant creature via motion capture. For the god Thoth, who can appear as many copies, actor Chadwick Boseman was filmed hundreds of times from different angles. For a scene with many copies of Thoth, other actors took a day to film the scene, where Boseman filmed the scene for three days.

Music

Composer Marco Beltrami, who scored Proyas's previous films Knowing (2009) and I, Robot (2004), returned to score Gods of Egypt.

Release/Reception/Box Office

Lionsgate spent an estimated $30 million on marketing the film. It released a set of character posters in November 2015, for which it received backlash due to white actors playing Egyptian characters, as noted above. Later in the month, it released a theatrical trailer. Lionsgate aired a 60-second spot for Gods of Egypt during the pre-game show of the Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, though they released the trailer online a day earlier.

In the week before the film's release, Lions released the tie-in mobile game Gods of Egypt: Secrets of the Lost Kingdom on iOS and Android.

BoxOffice forecast two months in advance that Gods of Egypt would gross $14.5 million on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, and that it would gross $34 million total on its theatrical run. The magazine said the film had "a strong ensemble cast" and that its director has "had a noteworthy following". BoxOffice also said the premise could attract movie-goers who saw Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, and the Percy Jackson films. Admissions to 3D screenings would help boost Gods of Egypt's gross. The magazine said factors negatively affecting the film's gross were a "lacklustre reaction" to its marketing and the backlash to its predominantly white cast causing negative buzz. It anticipated that the film's release would be front-loaded (focused on profiting mainly from opening weekend) due to the poor buzz, its categorization as a fantasy film, and with London Has Fallen opening the following weekend.

A week before the film's release, TheWrap's Todd Cunningham reported an updated forecast of $15 million for its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. The Hollywood Reporter's Pamela McClintock said it was tracking to gross between $12 million and $15 million. Cunningham said the expected gross was low for the film's triple-digit budget as well as additional marketing costs. He said the film could attract Alex Proyas's fan base but that it had suffered "some negativity out there" due to the predominantly white casting as well as the film being perceived to have an "old-fashioned" feel. Exhibitor Relations senior media analyst Jeff Bock said the film "feels late" years after the release of 300 (2007) and Immortals (2011), and an earlier production and release would have been more advantageous. Cunningham said with Lionsgate's financial exposure only being $10 million and the expected opening gross, the film could gross between $40 million and $50 million for its theatrical run in the United States and Canada and ultimately avoid a loss. The Hollywood Reporter's McClintock said "ancient epics" in recent years had not performed well at the box office, citing the 2014 films Hercules, The Legend of Hercules, and Pompeii.

Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times said in the week before the film's release that the expected opening weekend gross meant that Lionsgate's plans to make Gods of Egypt the first film in a new franchise were unlikely. Faughnder said the film would need to perform strongly in territories outside the United States and Canada for a sequel to be developed. Variety's Brent Lang reported that analysts said the film would need to open to $30 million or more in the United States to justify a sequel.

Gods of Egypt grossed $31.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $119.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $150.7 million against a production budget of $140 million. The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film lost the studio up to $90 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

Lionsgate released Gods of Egypt in theatres globally starting on February 25, 2016. It was released in 2D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. Lionsgate released the film in the United States and Canada on the weekend of February 26–28, as well as in 68 other markets, including Russia, South Korea, and Brazil. Jaguar Films released the film in the United Arab Emirates (February 25) and other countries in the Middle East under the title Kings of Egypt. Viacom 18 released the film in India on February 26, 2016 in four languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released in 3,117 theatres. It grossed an estimated $800,000 in Thursday-night previews and $4.8 million on Friday, lowering the projected weekend gross to $11–13 million. It went on to gross $14.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Deadpool ($31.5 million). It competed with fellow newcomers Eddie the Eagle and Triple 9, as well as with Deadpool, which opened two weekends earlier. Opening-day audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale. The Christian Science Monitor's Molly Driscoll said the Gods of Egypt's US release was during "a traditionally quiet time at the box office". Scott Mendelson of Forbes commented on supporting versus opposing a successful debut of the film, as "It's an example of a great wrong in modern Hollywood (whitewashing) while existing as a great right (an original fantasy from a gifted and visionary director) at the same time."

Outside North America, the film got a staggered release. In its opening weekend, it was number one across Central America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia. Top openings were in Russia ($4.3 million), Brazil ($1.9 million) and Philippines ($1.7 million).

Le Vision Pictures acquired rights from Lionsgate in November 2015 to distribute Gods of Egypt in China, and released the film there on March 11, 2016. China was the film's largest territory, with US$35.6 million. Lionsgate also released the film in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2016.

Gods of Egypt was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. Metacritic gives the film a score of 25 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews".

Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote, "A mishmash of unconvincing visual effects and clumsy writing—not to mention another depiction of ancient Egypt in which the lead roles are almost all played by white folks—Gods of Egypt might have merited a so-bad-it's-good schadenfreude fanbase had it maintained the unintentional laughs of its first 10 minutes. Instead, it skids into dullness, thus negating the camp classic that it so often verges on becoming." Joycelyn Noveck of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film a half star out of four, writing, "It's obvious the filmmakers were gunning for a sequel here. But this bloated enterprise is so tiresome by the end, it seems more likely headed for a long rest somewhere in the cinematic afterlife." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club called Gods of Egypt "overlong and very silly," and said: "A treasure trove of gilded fantasy bric-a-brac and clashing accents, Proyas' sword-and-sandals space opera is a head above the likes of Wrath of the Titans, but it rapidly devolves into a tedious and repetitive succession of monster chases, booby traps, and temples that start to crumble at the last minute."

Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian said, "This is ridiculous. This is offensive. This shouldn't be, and I'm not going to say otherwise if you can't bring yourself to buy a ticket for this movie. But if you are on the fence you can always offset your karmic footprint with a donation to a charity, because this movie is a tremendous amount of fun." Olly Richards of Empire was heavily critical, calling the film a "catastrophe" and "the Dolly Parton of movies, without any of the knowing wit".

In response to the reviews, director Proyas posted to Facebook calling critics "diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass", who were "trying to peck to the rhythm of the consensus. I applaud any film-goer who values their own opinion enough to not base it on what the pack-mentality says is good or bad."

Budget $140 million

Box office $150.7 million

My Review

The Australian cinema turned out a real gem of a fantasy film with Gods Of Egypt. Other than references in a lot of Mummy films Gods Of Egypt is the first I know to incorporate the ancient Egyptian religion and mythology in the plot itself.

We're going way back here even before the time Charlton Heston liberated the Hebrew children to a time when Egypt was ruled by their deities who walked among them and took human form. They also could take the shape of some ferocious creatures if need be.

Set and Osiris divided up Egypt back in the day, both sons of the sun God Ra. But Set who only had the desert while Osiris had the good real estate of the Nile and it's cities got tired of this arrangement and slew brother Osiris. He also fought and gouged the eyes out of Osiris's son Horus leaving him a blind and pitiable figure and a living reminder of what it means to cross Set who is played by Gerard Butler with Bryan Brown playing Osiris.

While the Deities are in their turf war mortal Brenton Thwaites gets caught up in it and his girlfriend Courtney Eaton is killed. He wants to get back at Set and would like to team up with Horus if Horus dare permit himself an alliance with a mere human. But Thwaites has some moves and proves to be an unusual and resourceful ally.

If you recognize it the elements from Alexander Korda's Thief of Bagdad loom large and clear here. The chemistry and scenes between Nicholas Coaster-Waldau as Horus and Thwaites is very good and the parallel of the two films is unmistakable. Korda only wished he had the computer graphic technology available when he did his spectacle masterpiece.

Korda's film was shot in Arizona both for the vast scenery and for the fact that Great Britain was at war. The great vast interior of Australia has and will be a choice location shooting spot for a lot of films as travel is now easier to that still remote part of the world.

I liked Brenton Thwaites character very much. In a cynical age where romance is not usually portrayed his was one of the best romantic characters I've seen on the big screen in years.

In fact the very romance of the film made it a winner with me. See this one by all means. 8.1/10