The latest CG animation, The Ten Commandments, retells the epic story of Moses and is the first of a planned trilogy of biblical tales.
Spanning his birth to death in just under 90 mins, The Ten Commandments covers a lot of ground indeed. And as an educational exercise for kids it is a valid effort but as a cinematic piece of entertainment it falls sadly short off the mark.
Even narrated by the great Ben Kingsley, the film doesn't come close to capturing the magic of animations such as Shrek or Toy Story.
Elliot Gould voices God to great effect. Christian Slater as Moses is a bit of a misfire. He simply doesn't have the range or depth in his voice to give the character the necessary gravitas.
These days, animated features are not only brilliant in their execution but they are big business. Competition is tight for that all-important kids' market, so I was really surprised at the clumsiness of The Ten Commandments.
The characters appeared wooden and the American voices and humour didn't sit well with the subject matter.
I do find the story of Moses fascinating and as a straight retelling, it is clear and coherent. But I just hope the animation in the remaining two stories improve, because the poor quality CGI in this film greatly hinders the final effect.
As a way to introduce your children to bible stories this film could be for you, 2 stars.
