When I saw the trailers for "The Prince of Egypt," two thoughts came to mind: 1) the effects animation is brilliant but the character animation looks shoddy and 2) who the heck is this movie for? It runs above the kids but below the adults.
After seeing the movie itself, two thoughts come to mind: 1) the effects animation is brilliant but the character animation looks shoddy and 2) who the heck is this movie for? It runs above the kids but below the adults.
This cartoon "Ten Commandments" has three big scenes that are worth seeing on a big screen: The first is a dream sequence involving heiroglyphs that is a terrific study of textured animation. The second is the arrival of the angel of death during Passover night; it appears as a light that swoops over, under, and through the animated "sets" in much the same way as the spirits in the climax of "Raiders." The third, which everyone has seen in ads, is the parting of the Red Sea.
But to get to those three spectacles, the audience has to sit through a rather pedestrian telling of the Moses story. And it has to endure some truly awful songs (confession time here, folks: I actually slipped out during a musical interlude to refill my popcorn box--something I haven't done in a theater since I was 10).
And back to the character animation for a moment. The design is absolutely off-putting; every character sports a straight-edge nose that make it appear as if they have a butter knife attached to his or her face! And Mirian and Aaron (Moses' sister and brother, respectively) are dead ringers for Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jim Henson, respectively.
I also hated Pharaoh's goofy magician side-kicks, voiced by Steve Martin Short. Neither funny nor sinister and yet trying to be both, they added nothing.
I usually dislike remakes, so as a revamped version of the DeMille classic, "TPOE" ain't all bad. It just could have used some of the true-blue Disney talent--namely a good ear, for songs that further the plot rather than provide a refreshment break, and a good eye for design.
After seeing the movie itself, two thoughts come to mind: 1) the effects animation is brilliant but the character animation looks shoddy and 2) who the heck is this movie for? It runs above the kids but below the adults.
This cartoon "Ten Commandments" has three big scenes that are worth seeing on a big screen: The first is a dream sequence involving heiroglyphs that is a terrific study of textured animation. The second is the arrival of the angel of death during Passover night; it appears as a light that swoops over, under, and through the animated "sets" in much the same way as the spirits in the climax of "Raiders." The third, which everyone has seen in ads, is the parting of the Red Sea.
But to get to those three spectacles, the audience has to sit through a rather pedestrian telling of the Moses story. And it has to endure some truly awful songs (confession time here, folks: I actually slipped out during a musical interlude to refill my popcorn box--something I haven't done in a theater since I was 10).
And back to the character animation for a moment. The design is absolutely off-putting; every character sports a straight-edge nose that make it appear as if they have a butter knife attached to his or her face! And Mirian and Aaron (Moses' sister and brother, respectively) are dead ringers for Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jim Henson, respectively.
I also hated Pharaoh's goofy magician side-kicks, voiced by Steve Martin Short. Neither funny nor sinister and yet trying to be both, they added nothing.
I usually dislike remakes, so as a revamped version of the DeMille classic, "TPOE" ain't all bad. It just could have used some of the true-blue Disney talent--namely a good ear, for songs that further the plot rather than provide a refreshment break, and a good eye for design.