English director Ridley Scott is evidently fond of what Hollywood calls “period pieces.” He has had little trouble getting funding for such unlike other directors, no doubt because of his track record with Alien (1979), the cult classic Blade Runner (1982), and Thelma and Louise (1991). The suits felt sufficiently rewarded after they let Scott get into the time machine to make Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and Robin Hood (2010) to let him try again. However, for Exodus: Gods and Kings, now playing at your neighborhood multiplex, Scott had to travel quite a bit farther back. If you’re used to the DeMille version, The Ten Commandments (1956) with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner as Moses and Ramses, respectively, what Scott has done will seem better only because of the special effects at the end, which are impressive but not eye-popping. To me it seemed much worse, for reasons I will note shortly. Scott’s take on the Book of Exodus is unlikely to...(Read Full Article)