The Prince of Egypt is an animated epic. The films depicts the Book of Exodus, also known as The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus, but whatever right? It follows the life of Moses, the prophet, as he makes the transition from Egyptian royalty to leading the Israelites out of Egypt. The best part? It's Biblical and well done. It all comes together. It's miraculous.
The film opens with a bang, The Pharaoh orders that Hebrew babies must be done away, Yocheved sends her baby boy, Moses, down the river with the hope he will live. And where does Moses end up? The Pharaoh's palace! The very man who wants him dead, is now his father. This just got complicated!
Anyway, Moses (Val Kilmer) grows old as most children tend to do. He's a sovereign prince of Egypt and really close to his foster/adoptive brother, Rameses (he's very important later). The Pharaoh holds a party for Rameses (Ralph Fiennes) and brings him a woman as a surprise, Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer), a Midian woman. Moses is intrigued and helps her escape, he pursues her, but she gets away.
On his walk back home, Moses run into two slaves, Miriam (Sandra Bullock) and Aaron (Jeff Goldblum). They're Moses' biological siblings, but Moses does not believe Miriam. When he arrives home, he confronts his family and finds out he is truly a Hebrew, but he family assures him that he is loved and still a soverneign Prince of Egypt. But feelings of inadequacy sneak up on Moses.
The next day, Moses and Rameses take a day trip to the temples. While there, Moses sees Hebrew severely beaten, and decides to intervene, ultimately killing a man. He flees to the desert where he stumbles upon the Midian tribe and Tzipporah. Moses joins the tribe, marries Tzipporah, becomes a Shepard, and gets a message God. God tells Moses to free his people of the oppression of Egypt (LET MY PEOPLE GO!).
Moses travels back two Egypt and begs his brother Rameses to let his people go. Rameses says he will not free the slaves. See told you he was important and thus the plagues begin. They end with Passover (that is a really terrifying) and the real question is will Moses' people ever be let go?
The film comes together and is an epic for all ages. Kilmer and Fiennes deliver passionate, raw, and believable performances. They're easy to buy as brothers and have fantastic chemistry. Michelle Pfeiffer and Sandra Bullock also given heartwarming performances as Miriam and Tzipporah, reminding the audience the power of love and the power you have when you believe.The animation is stunning and the design is stunning. It's hard to articulate this movie well. It;s touching and beautiful visually and thematically.
Not to mention the music! The music ties the film together and always enhances the plot, unlike some popular television shows (Glee). The music is written by Hans Zimmer, and the lyrics by Steven Schwartz (Godspell anyone?). "Deliver Us" starts the film with a bang, "The Plagues" explores Rameses and Moses' relationship, and "Through Heaven's Eyes" inspires Moses to become someone he can be proud of. Honestly, the music could not be better written or done better! It is the highlight of this fantastic film.
This film is amazing and the quality of the film makes so you don't even have to care about the Old Testament/ Torah to enjoy it. Rent a copy or something, I guarantee you won't regret it.
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