Proyas previously brought us such dark and moody delights as The Crow and Dark City, but Gods Of Egypt is completely unlike anything he’s made before. It’s big, it’s camp, it’s awash with CGI which varies in quality from shot to shot. In style and tone, it belongs in that same odd category of action fantasy films as Louis Leterrier’s Clash Of The Titans or Tarsem Singh’s Immortals. Put it this way: unless you’re planning to break into Fort Knox, you’ll never see this much gold flash past your eyes again. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t really apply in a film that asks us to accept that Gerard Butler, screaming and shouting in his Scottish accent, is an Egyptian god, or that features Elektra out of Daredevil riding around in a carriage held aloft by what appear to be a flock of pigeons. No matter how belligerently Butler acts (which is very, if you hadn’t guessed) or how earnestly Coster-Waldau recites his stiff dialogue, it’s difficult to become immersed in a film with so many distractions. The production design, casting and visual effects in Gods Of Egypt constantly demand questions rather than acceptance. Is that really Bryan Brown under that funny hat? Crikey, it is. I don’t remember seeing him in anything since F/X2. Look, Gerard Butler’s riding around in a chariot pulled along by massive dung beetles. Maybe horses hadn’t been invented yet. I think that’s Geoffrey Rush wearing that flowing gown. God, he’s a great actor. Remember when he played the Marquis de Sade? Quills was such an underrated film… Before you know it, the first act’s over and you’re not really even sure what’s going on any more. Some of the images in Gods Of Egypt are so strange that they cross an invisible boundary into CGI abstract art. Geoffrey Rush’s house is a big boat surfing around on a sea of fire above a flat, spinning Earth. There are armies of soldiers with red masks who fend off their enemies with circular mirrors as shields. It’s all very, very strange. Gods Of Egypt’s major flaw is its running time, which at 127 minutes feels not so much epic in the Cecil B DeMille sense as simply laboured. That Brenton Thwaites (Oculus, Maleficent) makes a somewhat flat lead doesn’t help, nor does the plot, which plods without much clear direction. With all of this going against it, Gods Of Egypt looks rather awkward when stacked up against the other multi-million-dollar entertainments in cinemas this summer. And if you want a fantasy movie that’s quirky, intelligent and beautifully made, Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales is waiting for you with a twinkle of mischief in its eye. But even having written all this, Gods Of Egypt has enough ramshackle, demented imagination bubbling away to make it just about worth seeing. With its skimpy outfits, baroque monsters and odd one-liners, it could just wind up becoming this generation’s Starcrash – a film best enjoyed with friends, snacks and a generous quantity of beer.