THE PRINCE OF EGYPT
A movie review by Joe Barlow
(c) Copyright 1999
STARRING: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock,
Patrick Stewart
DIRECTORS: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells
WRITER: Philip LaZebnik
RATED: PG
RELEASED: 1998
SEEN AT: Imperial Cinema, Cary NC
RATING: *** 1/2 (out of a possible ****)
Even apart from the possible religious controversey, Dreamworks has taken a serious financial risk with their first animated release, "The Prince of Egypt." Not only have they done the unthinkable (challenge the supremacy of "The Mouse" in the field of feature-length animation), they've chosen a topic with the potential to offend as many as it entertains. There's also the strong possibility that the film's target audience, children, may not wish to attend a "religious" movie, which often has the stigma of boredom attached to it, even when animated.
But never fear: Dreamworks has created an entertaining film that can be enjoyed even by those who have little interest in the Bible. Setting aside the stoic morality lessons that religious epics so often attempt to convey, "The Prince of Egypt" is a fun, fast gallop through the Old Testament's Book of Exodus, covering the life of Moses beginning with his mother's desperate attempt to save his life, and culminating with his deliverance of the Ten Commandments to the Hebrews. But although the movie's tone is often light-hearted and comical, it finds a striking balance with the seriousness and drama that source material of this nature demands. It's a delicate high-wire act, but the film doesn't stumble.
Moses (voiced by Val Kimer) and Ramses (voiced by Ralph Finnes, whose career seems to be recovering nicely after "The Avengers") are sons of the Pharoah Seti (an excellent vocal performance from Star Trek's Patrick Stewart). Wild and carefree, the two boys are the best of friends, in addition to being brothers. This changes after Moses learns the truth from his sister Miriram (Sandra Bullock): he is not the true son of the Pharoah after all. Leaving behind the only life he has ever known, Moses wanders into the desert and finds contentment and happiness with a band of gypsies. Eventually, however, God speaks to him and reveals Moses's true mission: free the Hebrews from the grip of the tyranical new Pharoah... who happens to be none other than his former "brother," Ramses. This is the stuff of which great drama is made, and the film wisely concentrates the majority of its screen-time with the difficult relationship between these two young men, each uncomfortable with their new animosity... but both nonetheless unyielding in their beliefs. The vocal performances by Kilmer and Finnes are excellent, with each properly conveying the tone and frustration that each character possesses.
Visually, "The Prince of Egypt" is overflowing with stunning moments and incredible imagery; in fact, I believe that it contains the highest quality animation I've ever seen in an American film. The alternating seriousness and comedy works very well, each providing an intriguing counterpoint to the other, yet never detracting from the epic qualities of the story. (And to my great delight, Dreamworks didn't feel the need to throw in any cute, talking animals with a fondness for singing and dancing.) The influence of Disney is felt in one significant way, however: musical numbers, and plenty of 'em. Although they're not bad when taken on their own, I observed that on a few occasions they greatly hindered the story's pacing. A minor flaw, perhaps, but I frequently found myself waiting for the tunes to end so I could get back to the actual plotline, which interested me far more.
"The Prince of Egypt" is nonetheless a cinematic triumph, offering proof that Disney doesn't have a monopoly on quality American animation. Parents should be aware, however, that this movie is rated "PG," rather than the tamer "G" that most Disney films receive. It has a number of intense moments which could conceivably scare younger members of the family: the slaughtering of the Egyptian first-borns gave *me* chills, as did Moses's eerie "hyroglyphics" dream sequence; also, some of the children at the screening I attended seemed quite frightened by the sight of Pharoah's hordes descending down upon the Hebrews at the Red Sea. You're the best judge of what your kids can handle, but do be aware that moments of the film are quite livid. But if you can handle it, you're in a for a treat.
E-Mail: jbarlow@earthling.net Joe Barlow on Film: http://www.ipass.net/~jbarlow/film.htm
If you'd like to receive new film reviews by e-mail, please write to the above address and ask to be put on my mailing list. Or, you can subscribe directly from my web page. Thanks.
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews