The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Released in 1998, The Prince of Egypt arrived at a moment when DreamWorks Animation was announcing itself as a serious rival to Disney. The studio had only been operational for a few years, and this was an ambitious opening statement: a feature-length animated retelling of the biblical Exodus story, drawing on the Book of Exodus and the wider traditions around Moses, Rameses II, and the liberation of the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery. The subject matter alone set it apart from anything else on cinema screens that year. DreamWorks committed seriously to the production, reportedly consulting with hundreds of religious scholars, theologians and community leaders from Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions before a frame was finalised. Whether or not you share the faith behind the story, that level of care is worth noting. The film runs to 99 minutes and carries a rare tonal gravity for a family animation, sitting closer in spirit to something like The Hunchback of Notre Dame than to the lighter end of the genre.

The direction was shared across three filmmakers: Steve Hickner, Brenda Chapman and Simon Wells. Chapman had previously co-directed at Pixar, and Wells came from a strong background in animation at Amblin Entertainment. The result is polished but clearly the product of genuine creative investment rather than a production-line exercise. The animation itself blends traditional hand-drawn techniques with early computer-generated imagery, most visibly in the parting of the Red Sea sequence, which became a reference point in the industry for what the medium could achieve at the time. The film also features a score and original songs by Hans Zimmer and Stephen Schwartz, including "Deliver Us" and "When You Believe", the latter performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey over the closing credits.

The voice cast reads like a mid-to-late 1990s Hollywood ensemble at full stretch. Val Kilmer, no stranger to large-scale productions (his work in Heat and earlier in Tombstone speaks to his range across that decade), takes on the dual role of Moses and, in a quietly unusual creative decision, the voice of God as well. Ralph Fiennes voices Rameses, bringing a controlled, almost formal quality to a character who is the film's most emotionally complicated figure. Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock and Jeff Goldblum round out a cast that gives the material genuine weight. Animation can sometimes flatten performance into caricature, but the voice work here resists that, lending the central relationship between Moses and Rameses a texture that carries the film through its more demanding passages.

The Prince of Egypt is a stunning animated achievement, visually breathtaking, emotionally powerful, and musically unforgettable. The animation, especially for its time (1998), is nothing short of gorgeous. The way light dances across the Nile, flickers in torchlit corridors, or blazes during the parting of the Red Sea gives the film a painterly, almost spiritual quality. It looks like a living canvas. And the soundtrack "When You Believe” soars, “Deliver Us” opens with chills, and the score wraps everything in grandeur and soul. The voice cast is stellar. Val Kilmer as both Moses and God (yes, really), Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, Michelle Pfeiffer as Tzipporah, all bring depth and humanity to their roles. You feel the bond between Moses and Rameses, the weight of destiny, the pain of brotherhood torn apart by duty and faith. But here’s where it gets complicated for me: the story. Yes, it’s based on the biblical Exodus (and I get that context) but taken on its own terms, outside of religious belief, some of it is deeply disturbing. The final plague (the killing of every firstborn in Egypt) is framed as divine justice, but let’s be honest: if this were any other fictional universe, say, Star Wars or Marvel, and the “hero’s side” unleashed mass death on innocent children as a tactic, we’d call it a war crime. Horrifying doesn’t even cover it. And while the film does show Egyptian grief (the haunting lullaby after the plague is one of the most devastating moments), it still positions all of this as necessary, righteous. That moral dissonance sits heavily, especially for viewers unfamiliar with the source material going in. I didn’t know the plagues or Passover story before watching, and without prior context, it felt less like liberation and more like collective punishment on an unimaginable scale. Technically, it’s near-perfect. A landmark in animation, packed with artistry, music, and emotion. But thematically, it asks you to accept things that, stripped of faith, are ethically troubling. Beautiful, yes. Unquestionably powerful. But not unproblematic.

I'll be honest: I came away from this one with a lot to sit with, which I wasn't entirely expecting from a 1998 animated family film. The technical achievement is real and hard to argue with, and the central performances, voice work or otherwise, earn their keep. But the moral questions it raised for me haven't really settled, and I think that's worth saying plainly rather than glossing over in the name of praising the spectacle. Some films ask you to feel things and some ask you to think, and the best ones do both at once, even when the thinking leads somewhere uncomfortable. This one does that, for better and for worse. Beautiful work, complicated legacy.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 1998  | Watched: 2025-09-20

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Trailer

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