Gods of Egypt - Rising above

I saw Gods of Egypt last night... and liked it, of course I didn't for over my money to see moments of great drama between Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and I didn't buy my popcorn anticipating dialogue so steeped in logic Spock would have been enthralled, in fact some of it's a bit absurd, but that's okay.  It's a fun movie.  There's a lot of complaining about the CGI - well, there is a lot of it, but it's all been produced by top notch CGI units, so get over it.  Have you noticed that people always seem to complain about the CGI in movies heavy with it?  And not all of the reviews coming out are bad.  There was this in The Atlantic, and this in The Guardian, and of course this from the NYT; I like the bit comparing it to the "art-filled exploitation film The Revenant."
And then, of course, there is the whining about it being 'white-washed.'  I hate to break it to people, but not every film produced is going to have a minority in the lead.  If that were the case 'Carol' fails terribly - no minorities, and 'Room' - no minorities, and 'The Revenant' - no minorities... well, at least none of consequence.  But then those are serious films, right, and the 'no minority' objection doesn't apply, right?  But this is a hot-button issue right now so everybody who wants to be anybody is jumping on board and pressing it.  In other words, people are judging this movie with their baggage already packed.
I liked it. So did my friend.  There's a lot of action in it.  And, of course, a very large Nikolai Coster-Waldau.

But then everybody wants to be a critic and I don't know why.  If you spend all your time looking for flaws, you're going to start finding them everywhere.  Millions and millions of people who have never made a movie in their life, and have no clue as to how to even start, are trying to tell Hollywood what needs to be done, and what needs to be fixed.  In fact, too many people are too busy trying to point out what's wrong.  The Gods of Egypt is a fun movie.  It has no pretensions, so don't go looking for any.  

Gods of Egypt vs Risen, both so white

The Gods of Egypt starts this weekend and I'll probably go see it, not because it's great drama or that the acting is going to be superlative.  Nope, this is a CGI fest with lots of half-naked men running around, and a babe or two thrown in for the straight crowd.  People who got see this movie are not supposed to leave the theater scratching their heads, nor are they supposed to be pondering the meanings of life.  They're going to be wowed by special effects (and half-naked men running around).  What I find funny is that I was looking at My New Plaid Pants where it was pointed out that the cast was so white... well, so what.  If you're going to point that out in regard to The Gods of Egypt, you should also point out that Risen has a very white cast.  In fact, Risen stars that very white, very British Joseph Fiennes.... as a Roman.  He looks Italian, doesn't he?  Of course, Krazy Kristians around the world will see it as a religious documentary so accuracy is not important.  Is it?

You would think that if you were trying to tell the true story of the resurrection, you would at least hire middle-eastern actors to play the parts of the disciples.  But then, of course, you might lose the white audience of America, those who believe that Jesus had blue eyes and light brown hair.

If you're going to throw out that race trump card, it needs to be done uniformly.  You can't pick and chose.  Risen is going to make a lot more money than God's of Egypt because more people are going to be seeing it.  So which one should you be pointing your finger at?