(reviewed on ppv, Fri/Sat, Nov.12/13th (holyfield-lewis-2, psu-michigan), 1999
When Dreamworks was created, most film fans thought they were in for a special treat. They thought that Katzenberg and Geffen and Spielberg would redefine Hollywood. Better films, better music albums, and better animated features. Geffen has more or less failed, hasn’t he? His biggest signing contract was for George Michael. I’m guessing you understand where that went. Spielberg actually made The Lost World for Universal, and then Dreamworks two big features of the last two years, Saving Private Ryan, and Deep Impact had to get Paramount to help. Maybe it’s a good idea to share the cost, but c’mon. This is Dreamworks? What happened to the dream? Well, Prince of Egypt came out last December and I did not catch it until almost a year later, so now I can rest easy. They may not be the top money makers out there, but with American Beauty and POE, Dreamworks SKG is finally making some fantastic films to be proud of.
The reason I adored POE, Katzenberg’s animated Biblical film, is only because of one simple thing; the animation. I have never seen a better looking cartoon in my entire life. Yes, the animals look ridiculously silly and uncoordinated, the people are all lanky and their noses are almost a foot long, but the backgrounds and the camera angles and the colors and the shadows and the entire epic is beautiful. It looks like a great movie. The backgrounds are awesome, the colors majestic. I never thought I would watch a silly little cartoon with bad songs that aren’t even catchy and watch it with my jaw dropped to the ground.
The film takes it’s story form The Bible’s Exodus section. This is where Moses and Ramses grow up as heirs to the Egyptian Kingdom. Moses finds out that he is not the king’s son but a Hebrew slave. He soon looks at the thousands of slaves as human beings and decides he cannot take it. He travels into the desert and eventually a burning bush talks to him and persuades him to go back and free the Hebrews. Now I am not a die hard Catholic. I haven’t gone to church in years, but the majority of the stories in The Bible I am aware of. As soon as Moses sees the bright colors dancing off a cave I knew it was the burning bush. I was not sure how they would do this. Would they just have a bush on fire talking to him? The result is nothing short of spectacular. It’s powerful. I didn’t expect a stupid cartoon that isn’t made specifically for Sunday school to be so bold, so touching.
The rest of the film sort of dips into a negative feeling and of course the ending is rejoiceful. The film is short and it seems like the movie needs a little more to it. Plus, the songs are pretty un-singable, though I didn’t hate them.
There’s a scene where the Hebrews are walking through the parted Red Sea casually, and up in the water a whale just passes by. The light flickers on it’s massive dark shape as it swoops down and passes them. It’s a damn cartoon and I was watching it on a shitty small TV and it still proved to be epic and full of weight.
Dreamworks definitely has something special with their animation department. I truly can’t wait for The Road to El Dorado. I haven’t been this excited about animation since Scooby Doo and the gang solved the mystery of Shadow Lake. ***1/2
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