Computer game series and blockbusters. They don’t tend to mix very well. There have been many attempts to transfer the energy and excitement of a popular game series into a great action movie and these attempts usually fall flat on their face. Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros. Mortal Kombat and more recently Resident Evil and Dead or Alive were not very popular by any means. Even Tomb Raider came under extreme fire, though not by me because of its star actress. So needless to say, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time had a difficult path to follow. The game series creator Jordan Mechner was involved in the making of this film and I’d like to say that helped but it didn’t appear to. I did notice some interesting rapid paced point of view shots at the beginning very reminiscent of a computer game but these didn’t stick around for very long, leaving behind what I would have felt an interesting style to take.
Directed by Mike Newell, this tale is one of Kings, Princes and Noblemen. We meet Dastan played by Jake Gyllenhaal in medieval Persia where he is on the run after being framed for a crime against his family. He discovers that he is in possession of a dagger that can turn back time. Of course, the owner of the dagger- Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) is desperate to have it back to safety and so the two are thrown together on an adventure that is torn by two paths. Dastan wants to prove his innocence which the dagger can help him do and Princess Tamina hopes to destroy the dagger before it falls into the wrong hands. The chemistry between the two leads left a lot to be desired, the writing tried to made the pair humorous but it failed to deliver in my opinion leaving moments to be cringed at rather than laughed at. The only humour in the film comes from Alfred Molina, the rest of the acting had me laughing at it, not with it. Prince of Persia also featured my most hated action movie moment- ‘I’ve been trying to kill you for this entire film, now allow me to leave the room and have my minion take care of this because I just know I’ll never see you again.’ A movie that centers around a time traveling dagger has a lot of potential but there is not nearly enough use of time travel in this plot. Time travel is used in a lazy way, to clear up lose ends and plot holes rather than to drive the story along.
See it if you dare, but you’ll probably be looking for a time travelling dagger afterwards to go back and chose a different film instead. Prince of Persia should stick to being a computer game.
Rating: 2/10 The two points are for special effects as a lot of effort went in there and I found the films’ extremely loose critique on destroying a city for weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist mildly interesting.
Recommended for: People who like action sequences, special effects fans, those who like to laugh at terrible acting, admirers of Jake Gyllenhaal who want to see him run around being all muscly.
Not recommended for: Everyone else.
Prince of Persia hits cinemas this week May 21st.
Hmmm, thought i might go and see this just for the silly fun of it. Now i think i’ll wait for the dvd. The plot alone sounds too weak to support the weight of the visuals (as most movies seem to be these days) Good review!
Tamina? Pfft, a princess’s name should never sound like a course of antibiotics.
@Emlyn I definitely wouldn’t go out of your way to see it in the cinema; the plot is all over the place! Thanks for your reply.
@Sweary hahahaha! That’s so true.
Nice review and definetly confirms my initial decision to see this on DVD
Aww… I gotta say, I really liked it! I expected a big budget popcorn film and that’s what I got. Sure there’s a few mis-steps and I thought it was a little long but on the whole I thought it held it together very well!
My review is up on my website anyway if anyone wants to see another view point…
I’m with Nicola, I actually enjoyed it. Oh there are moments of utter shite but overall it’s a fun bit of fluff.
I have reviewed it on my site if you find yourself unable to sleep.
I’m glad it has an audience, it’s just definitely not for me
PLAY THE GAME “Prince of Persia” -> http://www.newgreenways.net/prince_persia.htm
I personally thought this film was very good, Its easy to believe these kinds of films will be garbage as other game to film ideas have been disasters. I gave this a try mainly because of Ben Kingsley. I’m glad I did. The dialogue is fairly flat but the characters are excellent the acting is pretty good Ben is superb as per usual. And persia and its surroundings look very good. It also comes with a good plot! Well worth a watch! 7/10