"The Ten Commandments" | Thou shalt try animation

Ponderous but somewhat moving, the computer-animated "The Ten Commandments" tells the full arc of Moses' story, beginning with his narrow escape from Pharaoh's slaughter of newborn Hebrew children and ending with his distant glimpse, as an old man, of Israel.

Anyone familiar with the book of Exodus or Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 take on the flight of Jews from captivity in Egypt will find this new "Ten Commandments" to be faithful both to religious and secular understandings of Moses' tale. What is perhaps different about this version, ironically, is its — albeit animated — set design. For instance, the way the film conveys what construction of the pyramids under a blazing sun might have looked like; or how one punitive pestilence after another might have been experienced in daily life.

On the other hand, the overall slowness of "The Ten Commandments" proves wearing, even as one's sympathy grows for the burden of Moses' leadership.

The vocal cast, including Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses, Elliott Gould as God and Ben Kingsley as the film's narrator adds a welcome measure of Hollywood drama to the proceedings.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com