Exodus: Gods and Kings
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: December 12, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
21
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
59
Paste MagazineScott WoldApr 3, 2018
Even with exhilarating plague montages and stomach-dropping illusions of scale amid the many battles, the characteristically brilliant shots for which the famed director is known can’t compensate for the completely tone-deaf overall result—so far removed from the days in which the filmmaker brought us Alien. Read full review
60
CineVueJoe WalshJan 8, 2015
Whilst the tone is off, and the talented cast wasted, Exodus is, at times highly entertaining, albeit unintentionally. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 12, 2014
As for Bale, he seems to have lost his compass. His accent strays, his famous intensity wasted on clunky dialogue. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 12, 2014
As uneven as Ridley Scott’s career; at times, it seems to be a journey through the director’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that his strengths eventually win out; the bad news is all the awkward storytelling and botched character interactions we have to wade through to get to the good stuff. Once we do, though, Exodus is a hoot. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc MohanDec 12, 2014
As an action spectacular, Exodus is on par with Scott's other forays into ancient times, "Gladiator" and "Kingdom of Heaven." But as a believable human drama, much less a worthy exploration of Judaism's origins, it falls flat. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 12, 2014
When we last see a much older Moses en route to Canaan, we can at least be grateful that this film, unlike so many other movies these days, does not seem primed for a sequel. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireDec 12, 2014
A numbing and soulless spectacle of 3-D, computer-generated imagery run amok, Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings presents an enduring tale by pummeling us over the head with it. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 12, 2014
At 2 1/2 hours, the movie is actually too short to adequately tell the full tale (The Ten Commandments is 70 minutes longer) but that doesn't prevent Scott from presenting multiple, seemingly endless scenes of people crossing deserts. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 11, 2014
While the pale skin tones (bronzer is selectively applied) and haphazard mix of American and British accents is distracting, it barely scratches the surface of Exodus’s ungainly artificiality. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 11, 2014
It’s not a question of believing it, exactly. Director Ridley Scott has simply made us want to be there, to wish we really were there, and to accept his illusion as the most ready answer to that desire. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottDec 11, 2014
Exodus is ludicrous only by accident, which isn’t much fun and is the surest sign of what we might call a New Testament sensibility at work. But the movie isn’t successfully serious, either... To be fair, there is some good stuff here, too. Mr. Scott is a sinewy storyteller and a connoisseur of big effects. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 11, 2014
Scott’s “Exodus” is dutiful, deeply earnest, and more than a little dull. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 11, 2014
How you respond to the totality of Exodus: Gods and Kings will, I suspect, relate directly to how you responded to Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" from 2010. Square, a little heavy on its feet, much of that film held me, even when its bigness trumped its goodness. Same with this one. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 11, 2014
In Exodus: Gods and Kings, Scott settles for sticking (mostly) to the Book, skipping the boring parts in order to dish out the razzle-dazzle. This is spectacular entertainment, practically a theme park ride, that could have used more spirituality and soul. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsDec 11, 2014
A handsome movie with a handsome leading man. Christian Bale is widely considered the finest actor of his generation. Yet here he’s adrift in the bulrushes. This might be the most indifferent performance of Bale’s career. Read full review
25
Washington PostStephanie MerryDec 11, 2014
This biblical action drama that feels excessive in every way imaginable, from running time (nearly 2 1/2  hours) to melodramatic acting to the conspicuous amount of computer generation. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 11, 2014
the performances, even from some really good actors, are wooden, the huge CGI effects are a distraction and the best thing about the movie is the one thing that, other than the casting, will probably make the most people angry: God is a kid. Read full review
25
New York PostLou LumenickDec 11, 2014
An utterly clueless, relentlessly grim and rambling action epic guaranteed to displease devout Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, amuse atheists — and generally bore everyone. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 11, 2014
Swarms of flies, oozing pustules, alligator attacks and gaggles of frogs are vividly rendered in three dimensions in Exodus: Gods and Kings. And yet this biblical epic is still bland, overly long and otherwise forgettable. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 11, 2014
For all of the care and imagination that have been lavished on the production, which was designed by Arthur Max and photographed by Dariusz Wolski, the film’s impact is best expressed by frequent aerial shots that are visually impressive and emotionally remote. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 11, 2014
Exodus is an entertainment of the first order. I’m not so sure about the filmmaker’s decision to render the Metatron archangel as a 9-year-old boy, but what the hell? You get hit on the head with a boulder, who knows what you’ll see? Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 11, 2014
Exodus is a biblical epic that comes at you at maximum velocity but stays stirringly, inspiringly human. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 11, 2014
On the plus side, Scott's plagues are cool. But it's a long slog to crocodile rocking, pestilence and Proactiv-proof sores. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 11, 2014
As with the DeMille ventures, enjoyment here involves managing expectations and not taking things too seriously. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 11, 2014
As a fictional, big-budget, 3-D, epic interpretation of Moses’ journey, Exodus: Gods and Kings is spectacular. Read full review
50
The DissolveKeith PhippsDec 11, 2014
Scott loses the humanity amid all the gods and kings. The setpieces, however, elevate the film around them. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDec 10, 2014
If nothing else, Exodus: Gods And Kings makes it easier to appreciate Darren Aronofsky’s "Noah," which, for all of its flaws, was at least animated by a personal relationship to the Old Testament. Read full review
20
Time OutDavid EhrlichDec 10, 2014
I can’t fault Ridley Scott for wanting to stage a version of this saga, just as I can’t ignore the fact that my dad tells the same tale every spring, but much more engagingly, in half the time and drunk on Manischewitz. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 10, 2014
This eye-rollingly bad movie is silly, sluggish and miscast. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyDec 10, 2014
Is it possible to sit through a movie, mentally cataloging its absurdities, and still walk out dazzled? Because that pretty much sums up my experience watching Ridley Scott's eye-candy spectacle Exodus: Gods and Kings, an over-the-top Old Testament epic that's essentially Gladiator with God. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 10, 2014
For all its stunning and stark wilderness settings (Spain and the Canary Islands), its stunning effects, technical proficiency and scriptural cleverness, Exodus is a chilly affair... It’s still an exciting, entertaining epic. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonDec 9, 2014
For a story that's pro-poor and anti-wealth, every frame of it looks like it cost as much as human life itself — and that, more than any bludgeoned battle cries for freedom, is the pleasure of the film. Read full review
80
EmpireNev PierceDec 8, 2014
As spectacular and surprising as you would expect from Scott. Its spiritual uncertainty – and lack of triumphalism – perhaps robs it of a truly satisfying, cathartic conclusion, but also makes for a truly modern, thoughtful biblical blockbuster. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEric HendersonDec 4, 2014
It doesn't take long to realize that Ridley Scott's adaptation is only aiming for certain forms of credibility, and callously eschewing others. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamDec 1, 2014
Scott operates on a suitably Biblical scale and grounds the spectacle with rock-solid turns from Bale and Edgerton. Read full review
42
The PlaylistDrew TaylorDec 1, 2014
Exodus: Gods and Kings is a creaky, sometimes painfully boring Old Testament slog, and finds the visionary director unable to successfully wrangle a human story out of a tale of gods and kings. Read full review
33
HitfixDrew McWeenyDec 1, 2014
This is that rare case where it feels like every choice Scott made was off, and the cumulative impact of all of these choices is one of the most crushing disappointments of the year in terms of who made the film and how little of it works. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinNov 29, 2014
This is bold and uncompromising stuff from Scott; a Biblical epic to shake your faith in the order of things, not reaffirm it. Read full review
60
The GuardianCatherine ShoardNov 29, 2014
It is half turkey, half triumph. Read full review
50
IndieWireEric KohnNov 29, 2014
Exodus: Gods and Kings illustrates a typical contradiction of commercial entertainment: By playing it safe, the movie fails to enrich the material, and never captures the energy that has made its narrative so captivating for millennia. Read full review
47
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNov 29, 2014
This stodgy adaptation creaks with solemnity — not to mention reactionary casting choices — and apart from some nifty frog and locust infestations, even the special effects pale next to a wind-blown Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberNov 29, 2014
No movie with such a limp ending can be fully satisfying, and the beginning also falters. But the long middle section is a rousing good show. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin ChangNov 29, 2014
What’s remarkable about Scott’s genuinely imposing Old Testament psychodrama is the degree to which he succeeds in conjuring a mighty and momentous spectacle — one that, for sheer astonishment, rivals any of the lavish visions of ancient times the director has given us — while turning his own skepticism into a potent source of moral and dramatic conflict. Read full review
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