The Prince of Egypt

Voices of: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren Steve Martin, Martin Short, Eden Riegel, James Avery, Mariah Carey (uncredited), Whitney Houston (uncredited)
Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells
Rating: PG
Genre: Animated, Adventure, Drama
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Moses, a prince of Egypt learns about his true origins, which shatters his faith in Egypt.

Review:

Tim: Looking back at The Prince of Egypt a few decades after its release, it seems such an oddity. I'd never actually watched the movie upon its initial release. It feels so strange that the new animation studio, Dreamworks, would put forth a Biblical epic as its second feature. I'm not sure a movie like this would get made today, and certainly not with this cast. So, this film feels special, odd, flawed, intriguing. Not guaranteed to exist at all. As a film, it's good- a solid effort from everyone involved, although rarely ever special. I liked the movie, but never loved it.

I was familiar with the story, so my interest lay mainly in seeing how they would adapt this famous Moses story to the screen. I read that the producers met with many religious leaders, so focused on getting this story right. I value and appreciate that. What cracks me up is that endeavor obviously had limits, because entertainment was still #1. For example, Aaron, a fairly essential figure in the Biblical story- makes almost no impact here. He isn't Moses' voice. He barely does anything at all. This is an example of the impasse this movie found itself at- wanting to do justice to the Biblical story, but also needing to tell an entertaining story that would attract viewers. It never quite masters this balance, which limits the film's impact to some extent. I acknowledge the difficulty of getting this right.

As a Moses story, the film mostly works. We see his humble beginnings, the famous basket-in-the-Nile scene. We get a lot of focus on his carefree Prince days. We see his conversion, his God-given quest to bring his people to freedom and slip the bonds of slavery. We see the seven plagues descend upon Egypt, we see the thrilling parting of the Red Sea. The movie works and it hits the high points, even if it has to paint Moses a bit differently and remove Aaron from the equation. So, while I have some complaints about how the story was handled, I'm mostly positive in the story this film tells. I will also admit that there's something courageous and inspiring about Dreamworks adapting this story for children. My own kids, 9 and 6 mostly enjoyed the film. I was happy for them to learn this story in a more memorable way. There's powerful life lessons to be mined from a film like this.

What is perhaps most impressive about this film is the cast. I admit, in the 2020s, you could never cast this mostly white cast to play these characters. Progress is a good thing, and it felt a bit weird to see the whitewashing of these characters (at least vocally). Still, it's hard not to get excited about this cast. I thought Val Kilmer did a solid job as Moses- I don't think he has the best voice, nor gives the greatest performance. However, he works well enough. Ralph Fiennes was inspired as the choice of the Pharaoh and he works well. Michelle Pfeiffer and Sandra Bullock both deliver good performances, although their impact on the overall film is a bit muted. Jeff Goldblum is solid, but as Aaron, it feels like he was relegated far too much to the sidelines. Why have someone as talented as Goldblum play a character who gets most of his lines cut? I loved hearing Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, and Helen Mirren here. Steve Martin and Martin Short get surprisingly large supporting roles- or at least, they make an outsized impact on the overall film. This is a movie that has a stunning cast on paper, but the reality of the film is that it's Kilmer's show. Everyone else has smaller supporting roles. So, eye-popping cast list, solid, but unremarkable in their influence on the film.

The visuals are certainly impressive. The film does a nice job of making this story seem cinematic and epic. I thought the visuals were a big plus- even decades later, it's a beautiful film to look at. The Academy Awards hadn't yet invented Best Animated Feature, but this film still managed two nominations and one win. It won for Best Original Song, for "When You Believe", a solid musical number by Stephen Schwartz. It was also nominated for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score- although it did not win. The film itself is well made, a testament to this fledgling (but impressive) animated studio.

Watching The Prince of Egypt with some perspective is an interesting experience. The film built on the box office take of Antz, clearing $100 million at the box office. That's impressive for a Biblical epic- certainly no guarantees in that realm. I didn't love the narrative as much as I'd like, although I admit the technical strengths of the film. I think this is a good movie, but I also understand why it took me 26 years to finally get around to seeing it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Antz, The Road to El Dorado