Vue Thurrock: Gods of Egypt

Thurrock is in the middle of a super hero film drought right now. It's nearly 5 weeks since the last one but not to worry because the next best thing has sailed along, namely Gerald Butler with a sword looking buff and shouting a lot in this week's fantasy action flick "Gods of Egypt".
The film depicts an alternate reality with strange monsters and characters turning up. The crucial thing here is that Gods "walk amongst men". And in this Egypt they seem as numerous as rug sellers. But it is on this basis that the power struggle plays out between Gerard Butler's God "Set" with Aussies Bryan Brown and Geoffrey Rush. There are fire breathing snakes, flying boats and eyes being pulled out of sockets, so lots of stuff going on up on the screen to keep you interested but the plot is seldom coherent and this could be why the film totally tanked in the states.  It looks fantastic though and the special effects are top draw (it's directed by Egyptian born director Alex Provas – he made "The Crow" and "I, Robot") but his gift for visuals can't mask the fact that all the monster fighting, shouted dialog and well-toned bodies are really covering for a narrative mess - you notice we don't try and explain the plot in this review!  Well if the film doesn't then why should we?
Watching this film you can see what they were aiming for here, essentially a revisit of the "300" type of film that showed what a star Butler can be. That film, while also rather silly did have a clear story and narrative arch to it as well as some stylish set pieces, but that's what is singularly lacking here.
Strangely despite this mess it is actually quite good fun to watch. If you are in the mood for a nutty 157 mins in the cinema with a film that's so bad that it's actually quite good, then this is for you.