TheLittleSongbird
Joseph:King of Dreams is a very pleasant direct to video film. Like Prince of Egypt, this is also based on a story from the Bible. However, while this is worth watching and underrated I think too, I don't think it is as good as Prince of Egypt. I have to be fair though, considering how superb Prince of Egypt was, for that movie is one of the most evocative, compelling and stirring animated movies ever, this film had a lot to live up to. In general, this does a more than acceptable job at telling the story from the Bible.The film's criticisms are very few. The story while quite faithful to the story is a little choppy in places, but manages to be compelling enough in others. In its defence though, I have always felt the biblical story one of the less interesting stories in the Bible, but that is probably just me. There are also one or two moments when the character development is a little shallow, primarily with Joseph's brothers-Joseph was a very convincing and fleshed out protagonist- and the ending is perhaps abrupt. All these problems are probably disadvantaged by one major factor, the film for me is too short.However, there is so much to recommend. The animation is superb, the background art is audacious, and the fluidity of the character movements is evident. I loved the look of Joseph's coat, and how the animators animated his dreams. I also think the music is under-appreciated, as I really liked the songs. You Know Better Than I is my favourite, and I may have a confession, I have a slight preference to the songs here than I do to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The characters are good, Joseph is convincing as a protagonist, especially in the latter half of the film, and Asenath is one of the more vivacious female characters in a non-Disney animated movie. She reminds me a bit of Tzipporah and Chel. And the voices were well done, quite the opposite. I don't normally care for Ben Affleck, but he wasn't that bad here. Going on a tangent, people complained of Matt Damon being dull in Spirit and I not only really liked the film but I thought Damon was good. If I had any thoughts on who voice acted better, I think Affleck was slightly better. Jodi Benson proves what a wonderful voice actress she is by providing a strong and emphatic persona for Asenath, and Mark Hamill is great as Judah.In conclusion, this is a good film, not perfect, but it is underrated. 7/10 Bethany Cox
angelginel
Not bad at all! I really missed the Egyptian-like music from PoE, but these songs worked great too. However, to that person who said this movie was completely accurate with the bible, well, you're wrong. One of the things that caught my attention was that they named Juda as the leader of the brothers, when according to the Bible Reuben was the oldest. Then we see that he meets his brother Benjamin in Egypt for the first time, and also finds out that his mother has passed away.According to the Bible when Joseph was sold as a slave his Benjamin was already born and his mother had died during labor. By the way, why were the pyramids shown when he first got to Egypt, if, according to history they weren't built yet? Well, I guess I could understand that one, since people usually think of pyramids when they think of Egypt, it must have seen like a good idea to add them to let people know where he was. For those of you out there who don't read the bible, we must explain that this story actually precedes Moses' story in the bible, which can help them understand better how these 2 stories are connected... Joseph's family move to Egypt by the end of the movie, and as the years went by they were obviously multiplied, which brings us to the beginning of the Prince of Egypt, which shows how Egypt is now filled with Hebrews. The bible tells us that this new Pharaoh and his generation had forgotten what Joseph had done for them many years ago, the Hebrews were forced into slavery and finally a law was made to kill all the male babies to keep the Jewish population from growing, since Pharaoh thought that they might raise against the Egyptians.
eponinefantine
I feel that since I am not a particular person who follows the stories of the bible that I can look at this and enjoy it for the artistry and that it is an incredible story told in animation. At first I wasn't sure if I'd actually like the film because it was a bible from the story. At first I watched it just to hear the music, but as I watched the film it became more and more about the film itself not the music. Overall I thought it was a story well told. Ben Affleck did a good job as Joseph. It wasn't a role he had taken on before so that made it more interesting. I liked all the actors in it. It was different. But I also appriciate the actor/singers who gave thier singing talent to make the piece. For example David Campbell(who sang for Joseph) has an incredible array of talent and did a wonderful job with the singing. I feel with Ben Afflect performing by just plain voice and David Campbell performing as the singing voice made it interesting to watch. They as well as the other actors and singers make the movie complete and wonderful to watch. Overall a wonderful story well told.
Iammymothersdaughter2
No, I'm not a Bible-Thumper. However, Joseph is one of the most precious examples of a man who trusted God with everything he had and did, and how God was with him throughout his life. Joseph, King of Dreams doesn't quite reflect that total, precious trust in my opinion. However, this is a children's animated story and I know that some liberty has to be taken to get the point across to kids in a way that they will be both entertained, and remember well. This story does achieve that goal in spades. My nieces and nephew are glued to the set whenever we put this movie in, and my oldest niece can almost recite it verbatim.
I can just imagine how hard it must be for the actors to put life and feeling into an animated character, and all of the actors who lent their voices were positively excellent. I gave this film an overall rating of 8 - if you have little children and are wondering how in the world to introduce your kids to the greatest story ever told, here's your answer for a stupendous start.