Review of The Prince of Egypt

It's really hard to make a good religious movie, these days. Most people have a love/hate relationship with religion. It's a sensitive topic, but this in my opinion, this movie is probably the best retelling of the Bible, Book of Exodus on film, to date. I found this movie to be accurate and faithful to the original story. Yes, they change, a few things, but all the changes work for the better. A good example is making the characters younger. I think it's a brilliant example of how you can take artistic license with the scripture and still remain true to the spirit of the source material. Yes, it still have some inaccurates, but at least, it's not mindless theology propaganda drool. I think this movie is even better than director Cecil B. Demille's 1923 & 1956's versions of the Ten Commandments. Don't get me wrong, both 1923 & 1956 versions are classic films, but Prince of Egypt commands attention. It try to do something new, with the source material with its animation musical style. It made people think about their beliefs, by showing the negative effects of the child murders, slavery, and gruesome acts, commit by God and other human beings, more. This was a bit risky. After all, this movie got banned in two countries, on the grounds that the film depicts Islamic prophets. In Prince of Egypt, we get a more human portray of God through Moses. We see, both the warm, and caring side, but also the deep anger and wrath. For a PG movie, it has a lot of cruel violence and some gore, that some parents should know about. Produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures, as their first animation full length movie, and directed by Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells and Steve Hickner; the movie tells the story of Moses (Voiced by Val Kilmer), a Hebrew prince of Egypt, that found the courage and faith to go face to face with his half-brother & pharaoh, Ramses (Voiced by Ralph Fiennes) and lead his people out of slavery. Prince of Egypt works, because it was one of the first films that focused hard on the relationship of the two leaders. You feel the pain, both of them are going through, and how much they wish they could return to what they had. This makes the drama much more interesting. Both voice actors do a great job, showing this. Val Kilmer plays Moses as an every-man, the person who fell into his leadership rather than seeking it out. Kilmer really has this sympathetic like tone. He speaks, very soften, and clear, as if a real-life monk. Ralph Fiennes voiced Moses's half-brother, Ramses was amazing. He portray Ramses as a product of his environment, a tortured soul who still loves his brother, but is under the psychological grip of his overbearing father and his duties as Pharaoh. He really has that, powerful commanding voice that you can't help, feeling intimidated when hearing. Both actors really work well, against each other. I just wish, the supporting cast was as strong as the main leads. Despite, a lot of big name actors, playing supporting characters; the film feels lackluster, in that department. Good actors like Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer and others, feel lost in the scuffle. They don't have many scenes to shine. Other actors like Martin Short & Steve Martin feels not-needed and bit annoying with their premise. The comedy seem forced, and nearly unfunny. It never really feels natural. I always though, the movie could had work better, if they cut, those scenes out. No matter what, the movie still moves in a good pace. For a 99 minutes film, you really do see the characters, change from beginning to end. The animation is very well-done. You got some of the best animators, working on this film. When former animation chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney to start DreamWorks, he took a good amount of people from the Walt Disney Feature Animation Department. When director/producer Steven Spielberg, came onboard, he also brought good animators, from his defunct division of Amblin Entertainment, the Amblimation, known for films like 1991's An American Tail: Fievel Go West & 1995's Balto. Both divisions, work very well, together. You really get the ancient epic scope, by how beautiful, the film looks. I also love, how the movie used computer animation to add, detail. A good example is the burning bush and the water sequences. The songs themselves surprisingly really help to tell the story, too. The opening song by Stephen Schwartz and composer Hans Zimmer, 'Deliver Us' was very powerful. It was so epic! Not only did it help, move the story along, but they also show what the characters are going through. You get to see this, in song sequences like 'Look through heaven's eyes', "All I Ever Wanted" & 'The Plagues'. You see, both the joy and suffering that everyone has to deal with. The worst song in the movie has to be 'Playing with the Big Boys'. I really can't stand that song, one bit. It wasn't really needed. My favorite song has to be the power ballad, 'When You Believe'. This is one beautiful song. It goes from a soft spoken beginning to outright happiness. The middle part with the children singing is just uplifting. That song won Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards. Overall: This movie was a decent remake for the most part. Unlike other modern day religionist films. This movie didn't feel like a joke. It's not too preachy or clumsy. It's a pretty good watch.