I have really mixed feelings about this movie.  On the one hand, many of the action scenes are totally awesome, such as the wedding dances around Jethro's campfire, the Burning Bush, the Exodus, the Splitting of the Sea.  And I liked the fact that Jewish music was used in places (even some Hebrew in Miriam's song at the sea.)  On the other hand, the attempt to make the story "relevant" through the use of contemporary language in the dialogue sounded lame to me, and will no doubt sound dated in a few years.  For example, when Pharoah says, "I won't be the weak link," I almost expected to hear the game show theme.  I also thought that the sibling rivalry idea was overplayed.  There were obvious shades of Ben Hur and Masala here, too, right down to a reckless chariot race.  Ramses comes across as little more than a jerk with an insecurity complex who wants to get even with his brother.  In short, I disliked this film for the same reason that I dislike many recent Disney re-makes of the classics.  It takes too much poetic license with the story, trivializes serious themes, and tries to be too nicey-nice.  Definitely NOT a video I plan to buy.
I have really mixed feelings about this movie. On the one hand, many of the action scenes are totally awesome, such as the wedding dances around Jethro's campfire, the Burning Bush, the Exodus, the Splitting of the Sea. And I liked the fact that Jewish music was used in places (even some Hebrew in Miriam's song at the sea. )  On the other hand, the attempt to make the story "relevant" through the use of contemporary language in the dialogue sounded lame to me, and will no doubt sound dated in a few years. For example, when Pharoah says, "I won't be the weak link," I almost expected to hear the game show theme. I also thought that the sibling rivalry idea was overplayed. There were obvious shades of Ben Hur and Masala here, too, right down to a reckless chariot race. Ramses comes across as little more than a jerk with an insecurity complex who wants to get even with his brother. In short, I disliked this film for the same reason that I dislike many recent Disney re-makes of the classics. It takes too much poetic license with the story, trivializes serious themes, and tries to be too nicey-nice. Definitely NOT a video I plan to buy.