The Ten Commandments (2007) Reviews

• This one deserves at least a plague of locusts

  sbryanmr2007-10-20

  This is a terrible film on every front: ghastly animation borrowed from a video game, boring music, paired with wretched acting from Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses, Elliott Gould (hideously miscast) as the voice of God, and a lot of people you've never heard of -- and it's just as well. Are you a Bible scholar? You'll love the way they throw in the 16th century misreading of YHWH (Yahweh) as "Jehovah." Are you a Biblical literalist? Then enjoy the way the filmmakers have Moses abandon his wife and kiddies, let Aaron off the hook, and rewrite the punishment of the Israelites for that unfortunate Golden Calf affair. Are you a fan of Saturday morning cartoons? Stick with those; they have better acting and more wit. The movie is also misnamed; the Big 10 occupy only a small part of it. It would have been better call it "Moses." Actually, it would have been best to leave it alone.

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• Horrific

  die_cheney_die2007-10-22

  How can you ruin such a great story? Answer: A. Insipid direction. B. World's worst imagery and animation. The story flounders as it focuses on the relationship of Moses to the Pharoah ("Ramses".) Were they at one point buddies? Did something sour Ramses and turn him into a grumpalumpagus? Who knows or cares? But hold on, the worst is yet to come: the nutso physiques of the characters. The leading men (Moses, Ramses, Aaron) seem to all sport chest implants that would shame the late Anna Nicole Smith. OK, so Moses and Ramses were raised in wealth, how did Aaron manage to acquire such gargantuan pecs while some of his compadres appear as emaciated as a displaced person. Legs and torsos seem to have only the most casual acquaintance with one another. Eyes are over-sized in the manner of the Keane kids of the 60s. Larding out the cast (pardon the pun)are anonymous Hebrew supernumeraries who are impossibly wide and fat. While that might be very progressive in giving work to morbidly obese cartoon characters, it's very jarring to the viewer. Kids (baby Moses, young Miriam, the Pharoah's first-born) manage to be repugnant rather than endearing. Oh, and the color palette. WAY over the top. The only positives: Eliot Gould and Ben Kingsley. I saw this shortly after it opened in town. It was playing only in an obscure theater located in a low-end mall. I'd say there were under 40 other customers. What a dud.

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• The Ten Commandments 2007 Cartoon Version

  ShirleyKohl2007-10-31

  The quality of the animation was so bad that it was hard to ignore, considering what people are capable of making today...the makers don't get a "pass" for their substandard work. Even if it is just for children. For example, when the children of Israel are streaming out of Egypt, at first my eyes thought I was looking at an aerial of weeds. Artists have been able to represent crowds from a distance for hundreds of years, but that task eluded the artist for that scene. This lack of skill characterized the art and animation both. What bothered me more was the content though. The Old Testament gives pretty good detail for this story. It is understandable that a writer would need to do some interpretation or interpolation, but...basic accuracy was lacking, and the movie wasn't true to the OT account. Mis-characterization: God, or Yahweh, is a God of Love in this movie. Is that how the actual story portrays him? Is it how He was consistently portrayed even in this retelling? Yahweh kills every first born in Egypt because He is not obeyed, but at the end, Moses tells the Israelites that if they sin, just say sorry? The idea of sacrificial atonement was a pivotal belief for the Israelites. Sin was viewed as so serious (for Pharoah, his army, and the makers of the golden calf) that the penalty was death. Was Yahweh's main concern in this story to show His love? The original story that survived the writer and appeared in the movie reveal a God who expects obedience, who expects His people to do what he says, and Who will use His power to enforce His commands to the point of death. Even Moses is not permitted to enter the Promised Land, because he "let God down," in the corny phrasing common to the writing in this movie. Because of ONE LITTLE MESS UP Moses died without entering the land. This is a demanding God, not the sappy God that the writer attempted to turn Him into, even if He did love His people enough to rescue them from Pharoah. In another example of inconsistent characterization, Moses, said to be "the most humble man on earth," leaves Joshua in charge at the end with the request to make sure his humility and name are passed down to Joshua's children in the future. Its less serious but no less inconsistent. lol Corniness: Just one of many examples is when Miriam asks Aaron "Shall we go?" as the waters of the Red Sea are being held back (this is a miracle FYI, you'd expect some awe...). He replies something like "Come sister." Meanwhile they are walking on the bottom of a seabed, with walls of water towering above them and whales swimming next to them. Lol! This was just silly. This is not good writing; this is not worthy of a spot in a theater, it was sloppy and poorly done at best. Theologians and English teachers should be consulted before doing any more of these, and I suspect some would do it for free to save the makers embarrassment...

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• Insulting

  isaackamp2008-03-25

  This film is terrible. Why do religious films (not just Christian ones, also Jewish and Islamic ones) always have to be low-grade? As a Christian i am insulted that producers think they can trick me into buying a bad movie just because it says "moses" on the back. the plot line is stupid and barely conveys the actual telling of moses's life. the animation looks like a computer game- mind you, not the good games that look like pixar movies, but the bad ones that have as much animation as newsprint. The acting is truly wooden and occasionally garbled- "thank-you-god-for-this-oppurtunity" The score is decent at first but endlessly repetitive, the same songs play through the entire film. I'm all for films concerning issues, including religion, but this... stuff ...can't be tolerated. This film was a Christian "battlefield earth" in its incompetence.

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• Soooooooooo Disappointing!

  rboncella2007-10-12

  Yes, the story has been told many times before, on film alone. It also reminds me of a well-known old book. I didn't expect major liberties to be taken with the familiar story, but, what is the point of a new version which offers nothing new? The movie seems aimed at children, and adults with child-like sensibilities who have never heard this story before. The presentation is cornier than my Grannie's hominy stew! A serious and earnest mood seems appropriate, but the dialogue and mannerisms of the characters are so simplistic as to make them seem laughable. There are occasional attempts at humor, which are truly pathetic. These attempts are not only not funny, they pale compared to the attempts at humor from the old Davey and Goliath series. Many of the actors chosen for the voice work simply don't work. The choice of Christian Slater is found to be poor within ten minutes of his first utterance. There is a Kirk Douglas-like man among the complaining Hebrews, his voice rising, falling, and cracking much like the similar voice from Ren and Stimpy. There is a short, fat, crude, whining Hebrew who seems to be a caricature of a modern citified heathen. He becomes obnoxious early on, and never stops. Lastly, the teeth. Baby Moses has at least thirty teeth.....a miracle, perhaps? The teeth of the adults tend to glow, and seem like a set of dentures a bit too large for their mouths. All in all, a great disappointment.

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