With care and detail oozing from every frame, what isn't surprising is the sheer 'sod-off-Disney' epic quality of it all. Yet the latter's mission to deliver the Hebrews to the Promised Land means one thing: the two brothers will ultimately have to confront each other. The movie finds a strong dynamic in the relationship between Moses (voiced as an adult by Kilmer) and older brother Rameses (Fiennes) - we first meet the two adolescents engaged in a stunning chariot race, the camera apparently struggling to keep up with their full throttle exploits - and the divergent paths they take: Rameses rising to become Prince Regent, and ultimately Pharoah Moses cast into the wilderness to become a humble shepherd. Big imagery, big themes, big emotions - all met head-on and accomplished triumphantly within a film that is in essence a live action movie - more precisely a Steven Spielberg live action movie - writ cartoon.įor those who never went to Sunday school, the tale begins with Moses as a toddler, cast into the Nile in a basket then rescued and taken into the court of Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) before realising his destiny to lead his people out of the Pharoah's slavery. Prince Of Egypt is epic storytelling on the grandest scale. Yet the gamble has paid off to some extent.

For their first foray into the realm of the cartoon feature, they have turned to the not-particularly merchandise-friendly Biblical book of Exodus as their source material and Moses as their hero: no comedy ditties, loveable sidekicks or theatrical villains.

You have to admire the gall of DreamWorks.

Prince of egypt movie summary