THE RETELLING OF THE STORY OF MOSES. SET IN A BASKET ALONG THE RIVER BY HIS DESPERATE MOTHER, MOSES IS FOUND BY THE QUEEN AND RAISED AS BROTHER TO RAMSES, HEIR TO THE THRONE. BUT WHEN AN ADULT MOSES LEARNS OF HIS HERITAGE, HE FINDS HIMSELF FLEEING FROM THE CITY ONLY TO BE CALLED ON BY GOD TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE.Nearly every biblical film is ambitious, creating pictures to go with some of the most famous and sacred stories in the Western world. DreamWorks’ first animated film was the vision of executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg after his ugly split from Disney, where he had been acknowledged as a key architect in that studio’s rebirth (The Little Mermaid, etc.). His first film for the company he helped create was a huge, challenging project without a single toy or merchandising tie-in, the backbone du jour of family entertainment in the 1990s.
Three directors and 16 writers succeed in carrying out much of Katzenberg’s vision. The linear story of Moses is crisply told, and the look of the film is stunning; indeed, no animated film has looked so ready to be placed in the Louvre since Fantasia. Here is an Egypt alive with energetic bustle and pristine buildings. Born a slave and set adrift in the river, Moses (voiced by Val Kilmer) is raised as the son of Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) and is a fitting rival for his stepbrother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes). When he learns of his roots–in a knockout sequence in which hieroglyphics come alive–he flees to the desert, where he finds his roots and heeds God’s calling to free the slaves from Egypt.
Katzenberg and his artists are careful to tread lightly on religious boundaries. The film stops at the parting of the Red Sea, only showing the Ten Commandments–without commentary–as the film’s coda. Music is a big part (there were three CDs released) and Hans Zimmer’s score and Stephen Schwartz’s songs work well–in fact the pop-ready, Oscar-winning “When You Believe” is one of the weakest songs. Kids ages 5 and up should be able to handle the referenced violence; the film doesn’t shy away from what Egyptians did to their slaves. Perhaps Katzenberg could have aimed lower and made a more successful animated film, but then again, what’s a heaven for? –Doug Thomas
Buy “The Prince of Egypt” For Only $7.19
March 24, 2008
#1
Honestly, the way I see it is that “The Haunting” was the only commendable production from Dreamworks Pictures. This feature animation, on the other hand, puts Steven Spielberg to a great deal of shame, I’m afraid; and it all the more proves how Jeffery Katzenberg can hardly survive without the expertise of the Walt Disney Company.
First of all, it is terribly non-accurate in terms of restoring a “tale” of how Moses delivered his people. And secondly, eew…imagine how the people looked! Many praised this movie for its stunning background design; I personally feel horrible-looking CGI-animated people pale in accompaniment to how “stunning” the audience opines the animation to be – either in a positive or negative way. Why, I think even Don Bluth’s “Anastasia” could do many times better!
The soundtrack itself isn’t all the more that fantastic, despite the several rather meaningful songs like “River Lullaby”, “Through Heaven’s Eyes” and “When You Believe”, due to that familiar sensation from listening to scores of similar tones. I suppose this is the only portion of “The Prince of Egypt” which persuades me to only hang on to it with an unimpressive 3-star rating. Better luck next time, Dreamworks – looking forward to your much anticipated “The Iron Robot”!
March 24, 2008
#2
Boring, unbiblical, and too long. What in the world did people see in this movie? Children can enjoy THE TEN COMMANDMENTS — they don’t need this drivel.
March 24, 2008
#3
It almost seems Dreamscape has some not-so-hidden agenda oftreating the very young to entirely inappropriate themes. First they had ANTS, a film full ofoutrageous violence, full blown war, and over the top salacity. Second was this film, Prince of Egypt *loosely* based on biblical story of Moses. This is an extremely complex story for a children’s film. My five year old was appalled as was I with the blatant portrayal of infanticide. While part of the biblical story, it was entirely too violent and inexplicable to young children. This is one parent that is done with dreamscape movies, period. END
March 24, 2008
#4
If your taste runs toward graphic display of infantacide, then this movie is for you. While part of the Moses story, this movie uses a rather heavy-handed treatment of the story. The themes were entirely too complex for my 5 year old. The story is only loosely based on the biblical version. The ten commandments did it much better!
March 24, 2008
#5
Time, money, and energy – all wasted on creating and watching ‘Prince of E-was-gypt’. My church teaches that waste is a sin – how ironic.