Having already established footholds in the various genres of filmdom -- serious dramatic pictures ("Saving Private Ryan," "Amistad"), action flicks ("The Peacemaker"), kids films ("Mouse Hunt"), and wholly computer generated movies ("Antz") -- new kid/studio on the block Dreamworks SKG is now going for the Holy Grail of family oriented fare, the classic animated film.
Long the stronghold of the folks at Disney, decent animated films are finally arriving from other studios (such as Fox's "Anastasia") and Dreamworks can now be included in that list. Partially run by former Disney honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg -- who was responsible for films such as "The Lion King" while working for the Big Mouse -- Dreamworks has alleviated half the hurdle of making a good animated flick -- having a decent plot -- by adapting the well-known biblical story of Exodus into this new release.
To their credit, the filmmakers -- directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, along with screenwriter Philip LaZebnik -- wisely chose to nip any controversy in the bud by offering a beginning credit claiming that this is an adaption of that biblical story and that "while artistic and historical license have been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of the story..."
We won't go into the degree of that license, but things have been changed here and there, such as having Moses accidentally killing a guard instead of purposefully doing so, and appearing still as a young man when delivering the commandments, which by the way, is where this tale ends. Already at the plus side of ninety minutes, the animated version of the story simply couldn't survive the three hour plus treatment that a certain previous live-action adaption gave it.
Historical and religious accuracy aside, unless you've been living in a cave (or a town without a movie theater or video store) for the past several decades, the burning bush, parting of the Red Sea and the rest of the well-know Exodus story just so happened to make for a pretty good movie a few years ago -- you know, Cecil B. De Mille's "The Ten Commandments" with Charlton Heston in the lead role.
While some may criticize Dreamworks for taking the easy way out (it's somewhat the equivalent of making an animated version of say, "Gone With The Wind" or "The Godfather" in that the story is already present and artistically and critically proven on film), the studio has made what would appear to be an odd story choice for the basis of their first animated picture.
Since such films are almost always aimed at the little ones, the morally uplifting, but often dark and somber biblical tale -- filled with plague and pestilence and death and despair -- isn't exactly the type of story that will have the kids begging to see it.
In addition, without the standard issue comedic elements and sidekick characters (to the filmmakers' credit they didn't "dumb down" the story's seriousness) or the usual heroine character found in such movies, many children may find the somber proceedings boring, if not occasionally frightening. As such, and since most adults don't typically see animated films without children in tow, the film's financial success seems iffy at best.
Business projections aside, the film is quite good and the long-standing story easily holds one's interest and delivers the requisite dramatic elements and conflicts. What most people will notice, however, is the film's animation.
Often stunning, its blend of traditional, hand drawn elements and computer generated backgrounds and other enhancements easily equals that delivered by the industry standard Disney animators. Characters are extremely lifelike in appearance and movement, and some of the scenes are magnificently staged in composition and depth, including the well-known and beautifully executed parting of the Red Sea.
Occasionally, however, some of the characters appear quite sketchy in appearance -- as if they didn't receive the full "treatment" -- and this discrepancy in quality is a bit too obvious. Even so, the overall effects are quite amazing, including an early and exhilarating sequence involving a chariot race through the narrow and winding city streets and then in and out of some unstable construction scaffolding.
The vocal characterizations are all quite strong, with Val Kilmer ("The Saint") doing a fine job voicing the young and adult Moses (as well as a brief, thundering stint as God). Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient") has the correct regal tones for Rameses, although as the rambunctious teen his distinctive voice occasionally didn't completely fit with his character.
Other vocal deliveries, such as by Patrick Stewart ("Star Trek"), as the all-powerful Pharaoh, are on the nose, but the use of Jeff Goldblum ("Jurassic Park") and his high strung, near stuttering delivery seems out of place. Likewise, having Steve Martin ("Roxanne") and Martin Short (TV's "Saturday Night Live") as the voices of the palace's high priests falls short of expected potential since they aren't allowed to play the comic sidekicks.
Likewise, while it seems odd to include the traditional animated musical numbers if the comedic element was jettisoned for the sake of seriousness, the studio obviously realized that soundtracks are a big financial boon. Thus, several serious, Broadway-like numbers have been inserted throughout the production.
With the songs by Stephen Schwartz ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame") and the composition by Hans Zimmer ("The Lion King"), the numbers are decent, but not outstanding and clearly not up to snuff with the efforts put forth by Disney in the late 80's and early 90's.
Although it's amazing to behold in all of its visual splendor, and it fully utilizes a time-honored and tested story as its plot, the film never quite manages to achieve the greatness it so obviously wishes to attain. That's not to say that it's a mediocre film by any means, but it simply lacks the power -- notwithstanding the subject matter -- to fully engross and thus carry away the audience. In the end, it comes off as more of a picture that one will greatly admire instead of one that many will find highly entertaining.
The disc itself is yet another example of how well-made DVD presentations can vastly increase the viewer’s enjoyment and appreciation of a given title. Such is the case here. Both the visual and aural components are top-notch, while there’s plenty of supplemental material to keep movie buffs and fans of this particular movie busy for hours on end. Simply put, this is all around great disc.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
