The Prince of Egypt combines an all-star cast, great songs, and beautifully crafted hand-drawn animation to make for a gorgeously made and wholly accessible retelling of the Exodus story.
When it comes to the various film adaptations of Moses and the Exodus story, The Ten Commandments remains the best. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Charlton Heston, the film presents the pinnacle of Bible epic filmmaking, and adapts the Moses story with the spectacle and intimacy it deserves.
The Prince of Egypt is not The Ten Commandments, but it is the best cinematic retelling of the Exodus story since. A product of Dreamworks Animation, the film utilises excellent handwritten animation to bring to life the story of Moses (Val Kilmer), the adopted son of the late Pharoah Sei (Patrick Stewart), who finds his true identity as that of leader of the Jewish people, chosen by God, to lead a revolution against his once brother and now Pharoah Ramses (Ralph Fiennes) and lead the Jewish people to freedom.
An all-star voice cast that also features Michelle Pfieffer, Sandra Bullock, Steven Martin, and Martin Short are all excellent. The interplay between Kilmer’s Moses and Fiennes’ Ramses is particularly strong, as these once brothers, thick as thieves and with earnest love for one another, are torn apart by divine destiny. Fiennes especially taps into the pride and arrogance of Ramses, not to mention belting out a choice number of tunes in impressive style.
The films original songs composed by Stephen Schwartz complement the films centuries old story, and when combined with the original score by Hans Zimmer make for perhaps the most impressive soundtrack to an animated feature. The animation is astounding in its design and application, and remind of the power of 2D hand drawn animation, especially during a time when Pixar computer animation had begun to take over.
Like many animation movies targeted towards kids, there is moral messaging to be found in The Prince of Egypt, which of course does so through a biblical context. The makers of The Prince of Egypt do a great job in presenting this Biblical tale with great craft and emotion.
