The Prince of Egypt

(The Dreamworks-uary logo is shown, before showing clips from *The Prince of Egypt*)

Doug (vo): I've talked a lot about *Prince of Egypt* before on Nostalgia Critic, both on the Top 11 Underrated Nostalgic Classics, and the Old vs. New of *Prince of Egypt* vs. *Ten Commandments*. So, I'll try to keep this relatively short and try to say stuff I haven't said before.

## Story

Doug (vo): The story, I think is a safe bet you probably know. The Pharaoh has decided that the slaves have grown too large in size, so he sends his soldiers to perform mass genocide. But one family wants their baby to live, puts him in a basket and sends him floating down the river, where, oddly enough, the basket comes across the Queen and decides to adopt the baby and call him Moses. Years later, Moses grows up and realizes his true heritage. Disgraced by who he is, he leaves his brother and family behind, and finds a life of peace far away. But that doesn't last for long, as God Himself comes down and tells Moses that he is to be the Deliverer of the Jews. Moses returns, finding his brother is now Pharaoh, and the epic battle begins between Pharaoh and Moses over what will happen to the Jewish people.

## Review

Doug (vo): The film is gorgeous. This is one of the best-looking animated films I've ever seen. I'm not even really a big fan of Egypt or the desert, but, by God, the shots and the angles they get in it. It's just unbelievable. So much attention is being drawn to how to tell this story faithfully, but not exactly the same as *The Ten Commandments*, and it does exactly that. It has its own unique style and its own unique look.

*[The film's characters are shown]*

Doug (vo): Even the characters are different. The relationship between the brothers seems genuine. They both now have grown up and they both now have new responsibilities that they wish to honor and do not want to break. But at the same time, they're still family, and this is what makes great drama. That's Val Kilmer as Moses and Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, and both of them are fantastic. Even the other celebrity voices, though distracting at times, like Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Stewart, still match well to the character and tone that the movie's trying to get across. It's just distracting in that you can tell it's their voices, but you warm up to them pretty quick.

*[The film's burning bush scene is shown]*

Doug (vo): Something else I've never talked about is the music. The music is also wonderful. I think the theme they have for the burning bush is one of the most comforting, nicest themes I've ever heard. It's just a great sound and creates this wonderful mood.

*[The music that plays during that scene, which also served as the background music for this review, is heard. Other scenes, including the comedic moments and the song sequences, are shown next]*

Doug (vo): Now some people can, and have been, turned off by this movie because, well, while *Ten Commandments* was just intended for adults, this is more older children and adults. That is to say, there are songs, there is some comedy relief, and there are some weirdly drawn characters. And, yes, that can be distracting at times, like half the time, there's no segue into the songs. Steve Martin and Martin Short as the high priests are a little odd and out of place at times. And, horrible to say, but because it is sort of a Disney-style, maybe it could've benefited more from a little bit more the Disney design. I mean, some of them look good, but others do look kind of odd.

*[More scenes focusing on the song sequences are shown]*

Doug (vo): But with that said, the distracting moments are never *too* distracting. And you know what? I like the songs. I think they help move along the story, and they do it in a very visually and musically interesting way. So I don't mind them, I think they really work. But many would argue if you're really gonna tell the story of Moses and you want to step up your animation company and make it more adult, you should probably leave some of this stuff behind. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that was totally true, especially with something as heavy as the story of Moses, but I also understand the need to appeal to a general public, and, like I said, I think they work it in pretty well. So I stand by it, at least by the songs.

## Final thought

Doug (vo): I do feel bad this movie is not more appreciated, and maybe it is because *Ten Commandments* was just such a landmark, and even though this is a good film, yeah, it's probably not really a landmark in any way, at least, not in the way that most people view cinematic landmarks. But I still think it's a good, strong film, better than *Ten Commandments*, in fact. It has great characters, it has a timeless story, it has wonderful music, it has breathtaking animation with some breathtaking visuals. Even if you're one of those people that can't fully get into it, I still say check it out, because there is some really great stuff in it. And I think the story of Moses deserves to be told from a different point of view, and this is a very smart point of view. What else can I say? I love it. I've seen it a million times before, and I'll definitely see it a million times again.

*[A scene showing Egypt in all of its glory is shown]*