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'Ten Commandments' needs sharpening
The Ten Commandments may have a few glitches, but the story retains its appeal.
By Sherri Day, Times Staff Writer
Published October 18, 2007
It's tough to mess up the story of Moses, a dramatic tale of abandonment, murder, redemption, plagues and the exodus.
In The Ten Commandments, an animated movie, filmmakers seek to capitalize on the broad appeal of the biblical story by spending more than an hour of the 90-minute film on the most dramatic points of Moses' young life.
We see him as a baby nestled in a basket and destined for death until Pharaoh's daughter rescues him and makes him a prince. Moses fights with an Egyptian guard and kills him, a move that leads to his exile. And the plagues, even more visual and devastating in 3-D animation, do not disappoint.
The movie's directors tapped several Hollywood boldface names to voice its characters. Christian Slater plays Moses. His nemesis Ramses is Alfred Molina of Spider-Man 2. Elliott Gould voices God, and Ben Kingsley, who won an Academy Award for the 1982 movie Gandhi, narrates the film. Each of the actors' performances is fine and ultimately forgettable.
Undoubtedly aimed at the same Christian audiences who made Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia blockbuster successes, The Ten Commandments will likely be no cash cow unless marketers' grass roots campaigns catch fire.
The movie's stilted animation - characters' movements seem laborious and stiff, and lip movements and audio often don't track - falls flat in an age of incredibly limber and lifelike characters in The Incredibles or Ratatouille.
The movie also strays a bit from the biblical account. This Moses, for example, is mouthy and prone to soliloquies before Pharaoh and the Hebrews. But in the Bible, God tapped Aaron to speak for a shy Moses.
Still, it's a fun romp through the life of one of the Old Testament's most engaging characters. Viewers will likely grow enamored of Moses, whom writers make full of human frailties and doubts. They explain away one of his biggest sins - killing an Egyptian guard - as an act of self-defense after the guard pulled a knife on him.
Bring on the church groups: There are plenty of morality lessons for children to glean.
And it appears that more are on the way: The Ten Commandments is the first of a 12-film series called "Epics Stories of the Bible."
Sherri Day can be reached at 813 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com.
The Ten Commandments
Grade: B-
Directors: Bill Boyce and John Stronach
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Christian Slater, Alfred Molina, Elliott Gould
Screenplay: Ed Naha
Rating: PG; some mild peril
Running Time: 90 min.
[Last modified October 17, 2007, 17:28:13]
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