The Prince of Egypt (1998) Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, Martin Short. Produced by Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins. Screenplay by Philip LaZebnik. Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells. 97 minutes. Rated PG, 3.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com
Let's get the basics out of the way. "The Prince of Egypt" is a well- acted, great-looking movie. While the animators' attempts to fully integrate computer-generated images with traditional drawings are not always successful, the story of Moses is still visually sumptuous, aided immeasurably by impressive cinematography worthy of a live-action film. The sunbaked desert vistas are quite handsome and a few scenes, notably the parting of the Red Sea and a raucous chariot race, are dazzling. That said, "The Prince of Egypt" is not quite the awe-inspiring epic it wants to be.
The film opens with a disclaimer informing viewers that what they are about to see is true to the "essence and values" of its Biblical source. While preparing the lavish DreamWorks feature, hundreds of religious leaders were consulted to avoid stepping on anyone's toes. At the same time, the producers tried to avoid excessively pious displays that might alienate mainstream audiences. The result is a movie too careful for its own good. The filmmakers strive for dramatic grandeur while walking on eggshells, and their caution shows up onscreen.
Put simply, "The Prince of Egypt" doesn't know what to do with God. In contemporary Western culture, most people try to lead spiritual lives, but are vague about religious specifics. We view God in fuzzy terms at best, as some benign omnipotent parent, the personification of love. Aside from a noisy fundamentalist minority, most people tend to embrace the gentle "do unto others" philosophy of the New Testament over the fire and brimstone violence of the Old Testament.
All of this left DreamWorks with a dilemma; how to stay relatively true to the Moses saga from the Book of Exodus without putting off audiences uncomfortable with a wrathful God given to extremely vicious outbursts towards those who offend him. Their solution was to put the emphasis firmly on the human elements of the story. While the relationship between Moses and his adoptive brother Rameses is involving, and the Hebrews' quest for freedom stirring, the sheer majesty of a people moving closer to the Almighty is muted by the film's cautious approach. During most of the story, God plays like a special effect instead of a deity.
The burning bush scene is surprisingly tepid, feeling more like a conversation between Luke Skywalker and Yoda than one between Moses and God. In one confrontation between the brothers, Moses' walking stick turns into a snake and, instead of being awestruck, his brother simply has his minions call on their deities to do some stunts of their own. The exhibition of dueling magic tricks is too ordinary, just a bit of "Fantasia" sorcery with Biblical trappings. Overall, the story comes off like a lush animated historical tale of people escaping slavery, augmented by nifty special effects, rather than a supernatural encounter with an all-powerful presence. Come to think of it, the climax of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" had more of a "Holy Cow, we're actually witnessing the power of God!" feel than most of this movie.
The extended sequence displaying the parting of the Red Sea is the one section of the film that fully realizes its potential as an old-fashioned religious spectacular. The great upwards rush of water, an image of a whale swimming near the Hebrews and the physical detailing of the ocean floor combine for a scene that genuinely looks like a miracle.
If only the rest of the film worked as well. Even the story's other visual high point, an exhilarating chariot race, suffers from the awkward inclusion of a computer-generated nose falling from a huge statue that looks like it was superimposed over the rest of the scene. Throughout the feature, contrasting styles of drawing tend to clash. While the humans are have a nicely stylized, semi-realistic appearance, many of the animals are drawn in the classic Disney fashion. Thankfully, none of them talk, although they look as if they could.
For the most part, the film's show-tunes are dull and intrusive. The orchestral score incorporates some musical elements indigenous to the setting, but the bulk of the music is standard fare. As for the acting, an all-star cast delivers uniformly good performances, lending credibility to the often-stilted dialogue. Stand-outs include Val Kilmer as Moses, Ralph Fiennes as Rameses and Patrick Stewart, using his magnificent voice to give appropriate thunder to the imperious Pharaoh.
DreamWorks is promoting "The Prince of Egypt" as a landmark in animation and a transcendent experience. I would caution you to lower your expectations. The acting, cinematography, and most of the animation more than make up for the cheesy songs and occasionally anachronistic dialogue. Had the filmmakers made fewer concessions to contemporary sensibilities, this could have been a real barn-burner. But they forgot the crucial fact that to create a religious epic, God has to make more than a cameo appearance.
© 1998 Ed Johnson-Ott
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