THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (57)

Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells

With the voices of: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick Stewart

The Pitch: Moses grows up a Prince of Egypt, brother to the Pharaoh's son Rameses - then discovers both his true lineage and his divine mission : to lead the Hebrews to the Promised Land.

Theo Sez: God comes off looking a bit of a sadist here, though this desperately reverent film tries hard (give or take the occasional power-ballad) to preserve the "essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people all over the world". Trouble is, of course, that the story in question is a sere, unyielding account that demands to be "humanised", whether by making Moses' Hebrew origins a mid-movie revelation (like in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, unlike in the Bible), or by stealing highlights from 50s epics (a chariot race from BEN HUR, which also seems to have contributed to the central relationship), or by turning Rameses into a tragic figure, trying to do the right thing but traumatised by a domineering father (the film might've been subtitled "Pharaohs Have Feelings Too, You Know"). The effect is bathetic, turning God from an omnipotent puppetmaster controlling both sides of the conflict into a kind of hulking muscle-man in Moses' employ, doing unspeakable things to whoever stands in his way : a grand, atavistic folk-legend has become a tale of family dysfunction and personal tragedy, not to mention the evil-father-figure theme so beloved of Mr. Katzenberg (note how central it was to THE LION KING and HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - and how diminished in HERCULES and MULAN, post-Katzenberg Disneys where fathers have to be pleased rather than vanquished). Ample compensation in the visuals, of course - both the parting of the Red Sea and (especially) the plague on the Egyptian firstborn are superb sequences - but it's still an honourable failure : both too awestruck and, paradoxically, not enough.