The biggest problem for movie adaptations of historical or biblical epics has always been tone. Striking the balance between seriousness, camp, and self-awareness of said seriousness and camp hasn't often been done well, and several movies have failed, some (e.g. Alexander) gloriously.
Exodus: Gods and Kings might be the campy Bible story you didn’t know you needed
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
The winning formula of late seems to be the 300 franchise — an approach where the homoerotic thighlight reels seem to be in on the joke.
On Wednesday, we got our first look at Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. Like its predecessors, it seems to be allergic to modesty:
Moses (Christian Bale) and Ramses II (Joel Edgerton) sport Amy Winehouse amounts of eyeliner, and there’s enough glam and glitter here to give Behind the Candelabra a run for its money. Also, Scott seems to be a big believer in fans and wind machines (a trick popularized by many drag queens and Beyonce):
Exhibit A)
Exhibit B)
There are also a lot of campy side-eyes and stares in the short trailer, like this one from Sigourney Weaver:
And this one from Bale:
Exodus promises to be epic. It’s unclear at this point if it will be in the way Scott intended.
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