The Prince of Egypt (1998) (Movie Review)

     It’s the Easter season, the one time of year that Biblical themed movies get the most shine, and as for the occasion, I felt it was time to review my personal favorite of the genera. Now, I’ve highlighted epic's like “The Passion of the Christ” and “Ben-Hur” many times before, and are objectively the greatest when it comes to Biblical themed movies, but when it comes to my own personal favorite that I love re-watching the most … it’s a little animated musical from 1998 titled “The Prince of Egypt”. 

This was a the first traditionally hand drawn effort from DreamWorks animation, and they wanted to separate themselves from the fairy-tales of Disney, by focusing on tales of legend and lore. Thus, it was decided that the story of Moses would be the launching vehicle for their 2D enterprise. Now, movie adaptions of the Book of Exodus have been around for years, with the most famous being Cecil B DeMille’s 1956 classic “The Ten Commandments”. While “The Prince of Egypt” remains in its mighty shadow, it is never the less regarded as a minor classic in its own right, and one of the superior Biblical movies of the genera. For it’s time, it was the highest crossing, non-Disney animated picture, and has a devoted fan base years later, with many citing it as an underrated classic that deserves more recognition. While not a house-hold name like most Disney movies, it's still fairly well-known two decades later. In fact, 2017 marked the primer of a live Broadway musical based on the animated film, which is no small accomplishment, and the play itself was awesome.     

      While not a direct re-telling from the Book of Exodus, “The Prince of Egypt” had a number of Religious advisers when writing the screen play to insure it maintains the spirit of the source, while telling a familiar story from a different perspective, and making sure that it can appeal to a young audience. Not an easy task to pull off, but everyone involved clearly put all their soul, blood, sweat and tears into this project, to make the absolute best film … one that could appeal to both kids and adults in equal measure. Following the brotherhood of Prince Moses and Prince Rameses, we see the two grew up as best friends, always getting each-other into trouble, and being there for one-another when their mischief goes to far. One fateful night, Moses leans that he’s a Hebrew, who are all currently enslaved by the Egyptians. With his world turned upside-down, Moses begins to view the slaves differently. After coming to a slave’s aid, he accidentally kills an Egyptian, and flees the kingdom. Time passes, and Moses finds himself living contently as a farmer, and has married a young Hebrew woman named Tzipporah. One day, Moses is visited by God himself, and instructed to set his people free from the land of Egypt. The task is challenging enough for one man, but the real struggle is confronting his brother Rameses, who’s now crowned Pharaoh. Thus, the battle is on between these two brothers, with the fate of the Hebrew people in the balance.    

     One of the best things about this movie is that it plays with typical character tropes, and gives us people that are more relatable. Moses is commonly depicted as someone larger than life, whereas this movie scales him down as an every-man, with a larger than life responsibility on his shoulders. There’s great wisdom and kindness conveyed through the character, but also a human sense of regret and uncertainty. His arc is also a rich one, as we see him go from self-centered Prince, to a leader putting the needs of others before himself. At the center of this portrayal is vocal talent Val Kilmer, who is outstanding in the role. He really challenges that perfect mix of a holly man doing God’s will, while also conveying a sense that he’s just a regular guy, trying to accomplish something greater than himself. Val Kilmer also provides the voice of God, which was a brilliant idea. Just a quick background on myself, I grew-up attending a Catholic school, and one lesson that always stuck with me as a kid was that our conscious can be interpreted as God speaking to you through your own voice. Sense both Moses and God are speaking with the same voice, I always interpreted the scene with the burning bush as Moses’s very conscious taking on an astral form through the spirit of the Lord. Also, the sequence with the burning bush is one of my favorite individual scenes captured in animation. The atmosphere, the passing, the visuals, and even the portrayal of God were all masterfully conveyed. I love the delicate balance of how God is depicted as both loving and caring, but also mighty and triumphant.          

   Now, it’s one thing to have a relatable hero … but what about a tyrannical villain, surly this movie can’t make us identify with someone like that. Well, guise what … Rameses is anything but a one-note tyrant in this film. Traditionally, Rameses is depicted as a cold-hearted ruler without a trace of morality. This film however takes the ruthless depiction of Rameses, and likewise adds some human layers to the character, which make him all the more compelling. In essence, he’s the tragic victim of his own story, like a tortured soul who has great love for his brother, but is dominated by the psychological grip of his family dynasty. He’s still just as ruthless, intimidating and unforgiving in his actions, but this film subtly shows the frail man under the crown who just wants his brother back. It makes the dynamic between Moses and Rameses all the richer as neither are a straight forward hero taking on a straight forward villain, and it’s undeniably what carries the emotional weight of the film. Ralph Fiennes voices Rameses, and while the actor will always be associated with his portrayal of Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” movies, I think this is his second best portrayal of a villain in film … it would have been his first if not for his portrayal of the German Commandant Amon Göth in “Schindler's List”. Still, Ralph Fiennes hits every emotional beat of the character perfectly, as he ranges from sinister and heartless, to emotional and sympathetic.            

    Let’s talk about the side characters, and more specifically, this films insanely big round-up of celebrity voice actors. 

First we have Michelle Pfeiffer as Moses’s wife Tzipporah, who’s given a more prominent role then the character even had in the original “Ten Commandments” movie. This gave Michelle Pfeiffer great range of vocal acting, between being Moses’s loving and supportive wife, while also displaying the strength and tenacity to be a strong support to her husband’s cause. Sense Moses and Rameses are the two most prominent characters, it makes sense to have them voiced by big talents like Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes. Contrasting that are smaller roles like the Queen of Egypt voiced by Helen Mirren, or Moses’s father in law voiced by Danny Glover. Both are exceptional talents, but they only have a hand-full of lines, with the majority being sung by different singing talents all-together … so why get such high-profile actors? Famed comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short voice the two wicked high priests, and thankfully aren’t as over the top as they’ve been in other animated projects, but it once again begs the question … why cast them when not utilizing their traditional comedic talents. 

Sir Patrick Stewart is one of my favorite acting talents on the planet, and he too is given a minor role as the voice of the first Pharaoh of Egypt. Regardless, he is great at giving the commanding presence of a Pharaoh, and when compared to his other throw-away voice acting roles, this was arguably the most dignified animated production he’s been involved in. Sandra Bullock voices Moses’s sister Miriam, and is a far more credible casting choice, as her character is given a more significant role then most of the other side characters. Having said that, Jeff Goldblum is actually an inspired choice for Moses’s biological brother Aaron, and while the character isn’t given nearly as much attention as he did in the actual book of Exodus, Jeff Goldblum really nails the persona of the character without feeling like another quirky Jeff Goldblum caricature. Also, according to their IMDB pages, both Mel Brooks and Natalie Portman have un-credited vocal roles in the film, although I’ve never been able to single out their voices. The thought of Mel Brooks voice acting in this film amuses me to no end, especially sense he portrayed Moses in his comedy movie “The History of the World Part 1”. All around, the over-use of vocal talent’s may not be necessary, but then again, the story of Moses is a grand one that’s worthy of a star-struck cast, so it really doesn’t harm the film.

    Just as a quick side note, at the time of both this movie’s release and “The Mummy”, my little sister and I were living in the desert of Joshua Tree California, and as such, we loved watching movie’s set in desert landscapes, as it made us feel right at home.

As such, I’ve always loved the visual layout of “The Prince of Egypt”, but it was upon re-watching this movie as an adult that I really admired just how beautiful and breathtaking the animation is. Truthfully, I’d rank this as one of the all-time best looking 2D animated movies ever made. Egypt as portrayed in this film looks stunning, with detailed backgrounds, a lush color palette, and a sense of size and grandeur to the events depicted on screen. Even the 3D elements don’t feel so out of place when compared to other animated movies of its time. Epic isn’t a word that I’d commonly use to describe an animated children’s films, but this movie truly is epic in size, scale, visuals, and even emotional storytelling. There’s a number of lengthy scenes that are free of dialogue, yet still maintain all the emotion-rich character beats through the visuals. When Moses greets his wife after being visited by God, everything is conveyed through the character postures and movements, which is a great example of visual storytelling. Also, I think this movie might just have the best character expressions as portrayed by people in an animated production. Again, these characters convey so much through a simple look or expression, and when combined with the solid voice cast and a strong script, it makes these characters leap of the screen.

    There’s also a number of animated highlights that have always stuck with me as favorite moments. One such highlight is the dream sequence, which is perhaps one of the most artistically brilliant dreams I’ve ever seen on film. After Moses denies the truth of his heritage, he has a nightmare that shows in full detail his real origin, the horrific sins of his father’s past, and a secret that had been kept from him his whole life. 

What’s truly brilliant about this scene is how it’s displayed through hieroglyphics, and Egyptian style paintings. It’s all very artistic, but it also has a strong atmosphere, chilling musical score, dramatic elements and some incredible visual effects. It truly is one of my favorite dream sequences I’ve seen in a motion picture. Also, I give the movie credit for not sugar coating some of the darker details of the story. The harsh treatment of the Hebrews is on full display, and there’s even two acts of genocide, first from the Egyptians in the opening, and second from God’s tenth plague, which takes the lives of all the first born. The latter of which is one of the most chilling sequences I’ve ever seen in an animated film. It’s a sequence that’s done entirely in silence, with no music, just the chilling sounds of the plague passing through the village, and the sounds of the kids drawing their final breaths. Then the scene closes on this haunting wide-shot of Egypt, and softly in the distance we hear the sounds of crying and anguish. Thankfully, for as dark and as violent as the film gets, it never gets too dark in its depictions that kids can’t watch it.  

    Adding to the epic size and weight of the picture is Hans Zimmer’s sensational music score. He already had experience composing epic scores for children’s animation back when he did the music for “The Lion King”, but here in “The Prince of Egypt”, he really upped his game. It’s like he took the high notes from “The Lion King”, and combined them with acoustic's that complimented the Egyptian setting, as well as the religious themes. The result is a score that heightens the atmosphere, the beauty, the drama, the excitement and the wonder of the film. This score rightfully received a nomination at the Academy Awards for best original music, but lost to Stephen Warbeck’s score for “Shakespeare in Love”. While on the subject, I should probably highlight the individual songs. This movie came out at a time when every animated family film had to be a musical, and while the story of Moses doesn’t seem like something that would lend itself to the musical form … song writer Stephen Schwartz nailed it … nailed the shit out of it, because these songs are fantastic. He had just come off the high of writing some of my favorite songs for the Disney movies “Pocahontas” and “The Hunchback of Notredame”, and would go on to write the songs for the hit Broadway musical “Wicked”. As such, the songs in this film are high quality material.

    The opening “Deliver Us” is unlike any other intro song I’ve seen in an animated feature. It’s very harsh and adult, showcasing the struggles of the Hebrews under the wrath of the Egyptians. It’s fairly intense, but highlights just how grand, emotional, and epic in scale the picture is going to be. 

It also demonstrates what musicals do best, which is telling a story in musical form. It’s easily one of my favorite openings to any animated feature, and I feel like it could have been an Oscar winning short film separated from the rest of the movie. My absolute favorite song in the whole picture is “The Plagues”, which showcases the wrath of God when the 10 Plagues are brought down upon the Egyptians for their cruelty. Again, this musical number doesn’t feel like your average children’s animated picture, as it contains some haunting imagery, breathtaking visuals, a mighty orchestra, and further highlights the conflicts between our hero and villain. 

The film is also quite mature with other songs that are more traditional for animated family pictures. “Through Heavens Eyes” highlights life from the Hebrew perspective, and it does so without feeling preachy. “Playing with the Big Boys” is the obvious villain song, and while it feels out of place, like a traditional kid-friendly song number, it still boasts some intensity, and has some catchy lyrics. “All I Ever Wanted” puts a new spin on the protagonist’s solo song, as it’s conveyed through inner thought, and showcases the growing confusion in the heart of Moses. However, the big one is the Oscar winning original song “When you Believe”, and … yeah, after all these years, this song never fails to deliver an emotional punch. While the placement of the song in the movie is a little abrupt, it still leads to one of the movies most powerful moments. It's through this song that the films message is conveyed, that people can accomplish great deeds when they hope ... or have strong faith. It's also a nice touch that the song contains a chant sung in the Hebrew langue. All in all, this collection of songs has a secure spot among my top five favorite soundtracks of any animated musical.      

    At the end, we get the climactic parting of the Red Sea, and no surprise … it’s yet another visually awe-inspiring moment.

I also love how subtle and quiet this ending is, as there’s less talking, and once again, it’s the humble character animation that really conveys everything we need. The film closes on Mount Sinai with Moses carrying Gods Ten Commandments, ending our story on a triumphant final note ... good thing too, because the Biblical story of Moses gets really dark around this point. As a Catholic myself, I feel the need to point out some select differences from this movie, and its source material. This film actually puts more focus on following the template of the 1956 classic movie “The 10 Commandments”, with select details like Baby Moses being rescued by the Pharaohs wife just like in the classic film, as opposed to in the Book of Exodus, in which he's rescued by the Pharaoh's doubter.  

However, unlike the original film, this movie completely ignores the darker details of what happened to the Hebrews after Moses lead them out of Egypt, like how the majority were turning against both Moses and God, and began to warship a Golden Calf, or that the non-faithful were killed-off, and that Moses could never enter the promised land he led his people to. Honestly, I don’t think any of that would have worked with the story they’re telling, and it certainly wouldn’t have flown in an animated picture primarily aimed at children. So, I don’t mind that the movie abruptly ended on that single shot of Moses on Mount Sinai, especially sense there was a bumper at the start of the movie stating that Artistic and Historical licensing were taken, yet the Essence, Values, and Integrity of the story remain in-tack. 

    This is a special case in which I firmly believe an animated picture surpassed what was required for its target audience. It was so much more than just an educational Bible themed movie for kids ... it was also a great story, with relatable drama, and human morals that are universal. Religious viewers are likely to take more away from the experience, and yet, I still feel there’s more than enough substance to leave an impression on a wider audience. Speaking personally, “The Prince of Egypt” is one of those animated pictures that just seems to combine everything I love in one perfectly packaged experience. It’s a timeless biblical epic, brought to life on a grand and beautifully animated scale, with a compelling hero villain relationship at the center, a strong voice cast at the helm, dignified religious subtext that doesn’t come off as preachy, and it even boasts some stellar musical numbers. While I’m sure many view this film as that one good animated picture that came and left, it’s never the less stuck with me as an absolute favorite, and in my view … it’s a masterwork, worthy to be cited along with the greatest of what traditional 2D animation has to offer.

Thanks for reading my review of DreamWorks 1998 hit “The Prince of Egypt” … and continue to enjoy the movies you love.