My Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (7/10)

¨I've seen its power with my own eyes. Releasing the Sand turns back time. Only the holder of the Dagger is aware what's happened.¨

(7/10) Prince of Persia may perhaps be the best film adapted from a videogame that I`ve seen along with the Resident Evil franchise. However, this statement is not saying much because I can`t remember any other game turned into a movie that I have enjoyed. Most of these films turn out to be a complete failure, but Prince of Persia is not the case because it delivers good action scenes along with a decent cast. The movie works as pure entertainment, it is not a film you want to go see for the dialogue or the story, but as a summer popcorn movie Prince of Persia totally works. It has a lot of action, fun characters, and Jake Gyllenhaal proves he can be an action star as well. There are plenty of chases and running across rooftops to keep you entertained and not thinking too much on the plot. The movie was brought to us by the same people that produced the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the result was not exactly the same mainly because there was no Jack Sparrow this time around. Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directed this film, which was based on Jordan Mechner`s video game of the same name, while Boaz Yakin, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro worked on the screenplay.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Dastan, a kid who grew up in the slums of the Persian Empire and was fortunate enough to be adopted by the King, taken to the palace and becoming a prince due to his great courage. King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) is a good King who has expanded the Persian Empire and rules it along with his brother Nizam (Ben Kingsley). Besides adopting Dastan, the King has two children: Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell). One day a spy returns to the palace with news that the Holy City of Alamut is secretly supplying foreign enemies with Persian weapons. The three brothers decide to invade the city and take Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton from Clash of the Titans and Quantum of Solace) hostage. In Alamut Dastan also finds a secret dagger which seems to be able to turn back time. After the attack, King Sharaman is murdered and Dastan becomes the prime suspect so he has to flee along with Tamina in order to try to clear his name and discover the true powers of the dagger. The plot is probably the weakest part of the movie so I don`t want to spend too much time on it, but the action does save the film and therefore no thinking is required. Alfred Molina also has an interesting role in this film as Sheik Amar and is the funniest character in the film.

If we were to compare this movie to Pirates of the Caribbean, then Will Turner would be Dastan, Elizabeth Swan would be Princess Tamina, and Jack Sparrow would be Sheik Amar. The problem is that Jack Sparrow can`t be equaled so the film falls short character wise, but there is enough action to entertain audiences, although I would have to argue that this is not a movie you will want to see twice.

It is a onetime only viewing experience and works only as a summer blockbuster movie. I don`t think it has what it takes to become a successful franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean was. Besides the action and the decent cast, I also enjoyed the setting, which reminded me a lot of Aladdin and brought some nice childhood memories back. The scenery was just beautiful. I think fans of the video game will be pleased with this movie and action fans will also have a good time at the movies. If you don`t take this movie too seriously you will be entertained.

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