“The Power Is Real.
The strong bond between two brothers is challenged when their chosen responsibilities set them at odds, with extraordinary consequences.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
The Prince of Egypt is timeless. Due to a lot of cultural factors, it’s rare to get mainstream animation or media in general that covers religious stories based on majorly practiced religions today. Which is a shame because regardless of religious beliefs, this is at bare minimum an interesting story and I know that there are plenty of other stories that are just as if not more interesting than this one throughout the Bible and other religious texts. All of that aside though, this movie is one of the best pieces of animation I’ve ever seen just from a pure visual aspect, even with it being decades old at this point and the story is almost just as good.
So this is the story of Moses and The Exodus from Egypt in the Bible. It tells this very emotion story of two brothers who do love each other but end up very much opposed to each other. It’s also telling the story a historical event that did happen in some fashion that is crazily enough still having major ramifications and impact on the world right this moment. I loved Moses as a character and the journey he goes through. I was raised a Christian and often went to church when I was younger, so I was familiar with his story, but seeing it brought to life was great. He’s an unknowing orphan, raised as a prince, turned to a conflicted outcast, then to a conflicted savior of his people. I enjoyed seeing that progression and development from his character. The animation and voice work does so much to show his constant struggle with everything that happens, and what he is burdened to do by God. The conflicted chosen one is such an interesting sub trope and Moses is a great character and the story was interesting the entire way through. It almost feels like a stage play the way the music is inter weaved and the scenes fade in and fade out. And as much as this movie is about Moses, Ramesses gets a lot of screen time and is just as enthralling as this burdened boy turned man who feels like his families kingdom, their dynasty, will end with him because he is not good enough. Their dynamic was so good and just got even better the more the tension between them built as the movie went on. Just great.
The animation is absolutely beautiful. Some of the best ever, this holds up more than well. This looks better than most things released today. Absolutely stunning. The fluid character movement, the character designs themselves, the backgrounds, the scene direction when it comes to framing and lighting it’s just chef’s kiss. Me and my girlfriend literally had multiple jaw dropped moments watching this movie. Which is so crazy for something that is older than we both are. Then you add the music which is so so good. Again, stage play vibes with that, but also there are some scenes where it’s just dead silent. All you hear is the quiet ambient noise and I’ve talked about this before in other reviews, but the use of silence is just as powerful as the use of sound and music. Those two things are amazing. The voice acting was okay. This was a big budget animation, so they went with Hollywood actors which means the voice acting can be a bit hit or miss but luckily enough for the characters that really matter like Moses or Ramesses, their voices are fantastic.
So yeah, I really enjoyed this movie. This telling of the story of Moses is great. A constantly conflicted savior of his people pit against his brother, who is also an amazing character in his own right. Visually, this was a treat. One of the best animated pieces of media that I’ve ever seen. This movie has aged incredibly well and I can easily see it becoming one of my comfort movies that I just put on from time to time. It’s timeless.
The Prince of Egypt – 9/10
