Ancient Egypt! Where gods and goddesses deign to live among humans, and squabble over who should be in charge. Just as Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Lord of the Skies, is about to inherit the crown, Set (Gerard Butler) – whose godly portfolio includes stirring up deserts, making darkness and generally creating unpleasantness – ruins everything with a well-timed coup. Mere mortals Zaya and Bek (Courtney Eaton and Brenton Thwaites, looking like escapees from a Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez biopic) are enslaved, and a new reign of evil begins.
The filmmakers have already issued apologies for the predominately Caucasian casting choices, a swifter mea culpa than the one Ridley Scott offered for 'Exodus: Gods and Kings', which cited budgetary concerns as the reason behind his colour-blind picks. Still, it seems as though a decent chunk of the 'Gods of Egypt' budget went toward Butler’s skin bronzer – money that would have been better spent on the cheap-looking special effects, which appear to be culled from 'Ghostbusters II'. Is Ra (Geoffrey Rush) channeling Vigo the Carpathian?
This swords-and-sandals escapade could easily have been milked for laughs, but its handful of jokes, delivered deadpan, fall flat. Even a campy Chadwick Boseman performance comes off as heavy-handed and unwelcome. As the film totters to its predictable finale, the closing moments set up a sequel, a prospect far more terrifying than anything we've just seen.