Review: Prince Of Egypt
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Prince Of Egypt
Dreamworks animation has done it again. After making a wonderful adult comedy in "Antz", they have brought about what should be known as a true classic in the field of animation, telling the story of Moses from when he was found along the banks of the nile river to him as a boy, to his life as a man.
We start off with Moses as a boy, racing around on chariots against his brother Ramses through the streets in a very thrilling and well animated scene in the early portion the film; the sequence ends with a bang as they race down collapsing scaffolds and through a wave of sand out into the desert. The two young men live to have fun and, in the future, are "destined" to be the head and co-head rulers of Egypt.
One night though, Moses comes upon his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam(Jeff Goldblum/Sandra Bullock); although he doesn't believe at first that he is not of the Egyptian people, there is a dream sequence where the drawings on the walls of the pyramid become animated that is an absolute sight to behold as the soldiers march across the walls of the temple, giving chase to Moses and his people.
Moses begins to believe; he turns upon one of the guards who beats the slaves and throws him from the scaffolds to his death. Moses than flees Egypt into the desert, finding the voice of god in the moutains, giving him the strength and courage to go back to Egypt and lead his people to freedom.
He comes back to tell his brother Ramses, now Pharoah, to tell him to "let his people go". Ramses is at first humored by the comment, thinking Moses is just playing another one of his childhood jokes; then he turns angered as he realizes that there's nothing false in his statements. He denies the request and sends Moses into the fields with the slaves, which then leads to a series of some of the most spectacular animated scenes I have ever witnessed as god punishes the Egyptians as fire rains, locusts descend and the first born are killed.
Finally, Ramses agrees to let Moses and his people go; he follows them with his army into the desert, though, which leads to what will be known as a classic and spectacular scene as Moses parts the Red Sea.
Acting/Vocals are quite good across the board, with the voices of: Val Kilmer(Moses), Ralph Fiennes(Ramses), Sandra Bullock(Miriam), Jeff Goldblum(Aaron) and more contributing. What I liked about this film is that it is very serious, with only a slight touch of entertainment added. There only needs to be a little touch of entertainment added as the film, with it's visuals and story, is more than grandly entertaining on its own. What it thankfully isn't, is entertaining in the Disney sense, with cute sidekicks and funny jokes.
"The Prince Of Egypt" is definitely an adult film and I'm not quite sure if it will appeal to kids younger than 8 or so years old; those who do decide to see it though will be amazed by what the animators behind this project have done. They have made the first "event" animation film and I have to say that this film is the most impressive animated feature I have ever seen; the visuals are absolutely outstanding in a year of films that have taken us, visually, to places we have never been; "What Dreams May Come" and "Pleasantville", along with this picture, signal a hopeful change in the way that films are being made, it's as if Hollywood is only now realizing that the boundary of their work is only the limit of their imaginations. "Prince Of Egypt", with its great voice-work, wonderous animation and excellent script, is really something that I hope that entire families will go see, although again, I'm not sure that the very young will enjoy it. This is really, as far as I'm concerned, the best animation ever presented in a domestic release.
Dreamworks has really come a long way since its first film, the horrid actioner "The Peacemaker"; films like "Antz", "Prince Of Egypt" and even, a little bit, "Deep Impact", make me very excited to see what comes out of this studio in the future. Both "Antz" and "Prince Of Egypt" should make Disney very, very scared.
"Prince Of Egypt" is a powerful and beautiful work of art; "Antz" is a witty, wonderfully funny piece of work. Dreamworks has come out with an excellent one-two punch in the animation ring.
Both "Prince Of Egypt" and "Antz" will likely end up on my best films of the year list; there are definitely scenes in "Prince" that I will never forget and that deserve to be treasured.
Also: For those fans of the rarely seen Dolby Digital trailers, the Egypt Dolby Digital trailer seems to be attached to "Prince Of Egypt." Although when I saw the film it was actually in DTS, it's the thought that counts.
****