Review of The Prince of Egypt (1998) by Emod L — 08 Apr 2014

As a religiously void person, I admittedly took off half of a star for an animated film that deserves more praise than it receives. First and foremost, the animation is breathtaking. The baby basket in the sea, the ten plagues, the parting of the sea, everything looked awesome. And I mean I was in awe. I much enjoyed Moses' dream in hieroglyphics.

I could not say whether or not The Prince of Egypt is a faithful adaptation of the Book of Exodus, but it holds its merits as a respectable, animated film that can entertain kids and adults alike. What may turn off some viewers are the songs. With such a bold tale to tell, the Disney-esque musical numbers (incidentally, written by Stephen Schwartz) shoehorned into the film, without the characters even lip-syncing sometimes, fell flat. I liked Hans Zimmer's classical-Egyptian hybrid score, however. It did not *wow* me, but it worked better in the context than the vocal songs.

I am interested in watching other adaptations of this story, especially The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston. This is a mighty epic that may never run dry as a story, and while I had a good time watching this, it is not the masterpiece of consistently thrilling dialogue, performances, and action I wanted it to be. Having said that, I recommend watching the film for the visuals alone. Those ten plagues were delicious(ly pleasing to the eye).