It's a story that is famous across the world, one that millions of people base their religious beliefs on and is one of the stories almost everyone knows from the book of Exodus. I am of course referring to the tale of Moses and how he freed the Jewish people from slavery with the help of the Hebrew God. Released in 1998 by Dreamworks ?The Prince of Egypt? opens with a quick text-based message explaining the film had taken artistic license, whilst still attempting to stay as close to the source material as possible. The result is a fantastic film that, regardless of your religious views should not be missed.
The story follows a slightly edited, although no less powerful version of the original story. In the film the Jewish people are held as slaves by the proud and powerful Egyptians, and in an attempt to prevent an increase in the population of slaves(and therefore a possible uprising) the Pharaoh orders every Jewish child to be killed. A young mother escapes the large number of soldiers, sets her child in a basket and sends it downstream where it arrives at the foot of the Pharaoh's wife. She sees this child as a gift from the Gods and names him Moses.
Released on the 18th December 1998 by Dreamworks this big budget blockbuster is one of the highest grossing films of its type and the winner of an Oscar with high praise from a variety of critics. At the time Dreamworks appeared to be challenging Disney in order to be the leading company in family entertainment. This film was one of Dreamworks big budget attempts at the time being the most expensive animated film ever (eventually beaten by Final Fantasy : The Spirits within), and one that can certainly challenge anything from Disney's Renaissance period.
The film, even today, looks absolutely fantastic with a superb mixture of hand-drawn and CG animation. Despite being excellent the animation takes second place to the character development in terms of quality within context, and it's these characters that turn a relativity straight-forward tale into something truly special. In the films adaptation Moses and Rameses believe themselves to be Brothers until rather late on in their teens and as such it is evident they have a close bond. This transforms events later in the film from simple acts of deviance in order to gain freedom, into events Moses wishes he could stop ? for the pair just want to go back to being Brothers. This sets up a powerful moral battle, as neither side is truly in the right. Rameses is stubborn and unrelenting because he doesn't wish to disrespect his father and be ?the weak link?, whilst Moses and his God eventually murder children for their cause, at the same time claiming Rameses had simply needed to back down and let the Jewish people have their freedom.
Although this relationship is obviously the one the film centres on, Moses's wife Sephorah and the way they meet is also an interesting sub-plot, despite her being little-more than a tool in order to keep Moses living outside the kingdom in order to meet God. And when he does meet the Burning Bush the effects, sound and tension are all perfectly balanced. This God acts like one that could later perform the deeds necessary to set the Jewish people free. He also sounds powerful and intimidating ? it's a welcome change from certain religious films.
Although whilst the character animation is superb and the writing interesting ultimately it boils down to the cast's performance in order to make the characters believable, and needless to say they are superb. Dreamworks brought in some prestigious voices for these roles with Moses played by Val Kimmer (who also played God), Rameses played by Ralph Fiennes and Patrick Stewart as the Pharoph. Other voice actors include Jeff Goldblum and Sandra Bullock. There are a number of songs throughout the film, composed by the legendary Hans Zimmler, each of which are atmospheric, yet don't ruin the darker atmosphere set by the film unlike many films in the genre.. Not all the voice actors do their own singing, but the ones that do put in great performances.
The film emphasizes this atmosphere with the use of dramatic camera-angles and special effects. Particularly in a song known as ?The Plague?. It is here that the film shines, showing off its technical marvel whilst keeping the viewer interested in the motivations of each character.
These special effects are almost all CG but that doesn't make them any less spectacular - the moment sea water is forced aside to make a path for the Jewish people is extremely well done, and character movements for the most part are believable. Although they do appear unnatural when running. As mentioned "The Plague" sequence is particularly well done due to its camera angles and differing shots but it's the films fast tempo that keeps these sequences strong. The emphasis is on Moses but the film constantly switches location as not to bore the viewer.
The sheer scale of the films ambition is refreshing, even if it is over a decade-old. Even to this day it is one of the best animated films around despite technological advances. In the end The Prince of Egypt is an excellent film I fully recommend you watch if you enjoy any of Disney's work. It's powerful, epic and has something for all age groups.
