Review: The Prince of Egypt
It’s hard to do better than the Bible for your source material, so this movie had an edge already. In some ways it lived up to (and exceeded) expectations; in others, it left me slightly disappointed, but overall it was an excellent film.
For those who may not know, the story is set in Egypt during the reigns of Seti (the first, I think), and his son Rameses. (If you somehow don’t already know the story, skip to the next paragraph.) In those times, the Hebrews were slaves of Egypt. Seti was having Hebrew babies killed to control the slave population, but Moses’ mother kept him hidden for three months until she could hide him no longer and had to trust God to keep him safe when she put him in a basket in the Nile River. As in many places, the movie takes a little license here and has the basket floating downstream suviving a number of dangerous situations. (In the Bible, it’s not quite as visually exciting: the Pharaoh’s daughter - not the Queen, as depicted in the movie - finds the basket while on a walk.) Moses grows up in the palace until learning of his true heritage, runs away, meets God (literally, through the Burning Bush) who commands him to return to Egypt and free his people, Israel (the Hebrews). With some rather famous and impressive miracles and plagues, culminating in the parting of the Red Sea, God uses Moses to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptians.
The movie takes an interesting tack in focusing heavily on the sibling relationship between Moses and Rameses, which is not really mentioned in the Bible. It really puts the story in a light most, I believe, had not considered. Assuming Moses did have a good relationship with Rameses, it adds a much more personal component to their conflict. At times through the movie, you can sympathize with Rameses’ perception of Moses as a betrayer. In general he is portrayed more as a human than an all-powerful head of the dominant empire on the planet, and I think that helps in the film. It also sets it apart from other Exodus epics.
Lots of famous people lent their voices to this film, led by Val Kilmer as Moses. I think he did a good job, though one thing I didn’t like was that his voice was also used for the voice of God. That seemed to me to be a poor choice, as it allows the viewer to wonder if Moses is just hallucinating or imagining God, and that doesn’t strike me as consistent with the rest of the film, which clearly portrays God’s power both separate from and working through Moses.
Visually the movie was stunning (especially as I remember it in the theater - it definitely lost significant effect on my aging television and 2.0 stereo - though still very nice). The hieroglyph dream was really cool and innovative. The climactic parting of the Red Sea was extremely well done, with nuances that amazed me.
The music, by Hans Zimmer, was hit and miss. The power and drama of the opening theme (Deliver Us) was utterly fantastic. You’re Playing With the Big Boys Now — not so much. Through Heaven’s Eyes had some excellent lyrics, but musically could have been a little better (not that it was bad, though - I just wanted a little more out of it). The requisite pop single from the film, When You Believe, was (as usual in these situations) much better in the film than its radio version.
While the movie did take liberties, overall it was very true to the Biblical recounting of Moses’ life through the Exodus, and that is a powerful story. Easily a four-star film. I could even be convinced to add another half-star without much persuasion.
Technorati Tags: Moses, Exodus, slavery, Bible, Old Testament, Ancient Egypt, movies, musicals, animation, Val Kilmer, Hans Zimmer, Jews, Israel, religion
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