Gods of Egypt is full of pretty people, decent-enough acting, and CGI spectacle. But it’s also pretty boring. Like, epically boring. I don’t expect it to live the immortal life enjoyed by some of the gods in the movie, but it may get a second lease on life as a mediocre rental. Here’s the gist: Gods of Egypt is about a mortal named Bek (Brendon Thwaites) who calls on the powerful god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones) to emerge from a self-imposed exile to help Bek rescue his true love. First, they must wrest control of Egypt back from Horus’s evil brother, the merciless god of darkness Set (Gerard Butler, who basically recycled his wardrobe from The 300). It’s sort of like the Disney classic Aladdin meets the 2014 dud Exodus: Gods and Kings. There’s romantic drama, action, epic battle scenes, gods that sprout wings and travel across the heavens, sibling rivalry, and – ultimately – the heartfelt message that with the right mix of courage and sacrifice, mortals and gods can work together to return Egypt to a land of peace and prosperity!
The movie has a bit of girl-power (and guy lust) appeal going for it, courtesy of the mortally-wounded Zaya (Courtney Eaton) and the goddess of love Hathor (Elodie Yung), who can manipulate most men with the bat of an eyelash. But their storylines are muddled in the mix of a narrative that goes on about a half-hour too long. Bottom line: Gods of Egypt is a safe PG-13 action-adventure fantasy flick that caters primarily to the YA crowd and perhaps anyone with a decent knowledge of Egyptian mythology. Beyond that, no need to rush out to the theater for this one, in 2D or 3D.