From what I know about the videogame Prince of Persia is that you can do cool running-up-walls moves while pretending that you’re a parkour badass and that you can stop time. That’s the extent of my knowledge. Just knowing that, it’s safe to say that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a pretty faithful adaptation of the video game. In fact, it may be one of the best video game adaptations ever. The plot is easy to follow, the fight scenes are pretty bitchin’, and you can easily sit back and simply enjoy a fun action flick.
Sure, you have to ignore the fact that the two “Persian” leads are the whitest actors of all time, and, okay, Jake Gyllenhaal’s accent is atrocious. But if you resign yourself to put aside these two factors, there shouldn’t be anything standing in the way of your enjoyment of Prince of Persia.
Read more after the jump!
Sure, you have to ignore the fact that the two “Persian” leads are the whitest actors of all time, and, okay, Jake Gyllenhaal’s accent is atrocious. But if you resign yourself to put aside these two factors, there shouldn’t be anything standing in the way of your enjoyment of Prince of Persia.
Read more after the jump!
The film begins with the Persian king spotting a courageous hood rat in a market saving his friend from punishment at the hands of guards and deciding to adopt him as his son. Flash forward 15 years later, and the boy is now Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal), a brave and scrappy solider who’s fighting along his two brothers, Prince Tus and Prince Garsiv, as they decide to invade a holy city in search of a weapon supply at the request of their uncle Nizam(Ben Kingsley rocking some serious guyliner). At the celebration of their victory, the King is poisoned and Dastan is blamed and flees with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) with a magical dagger. The two eventual lovers (c’mon, they hate each other at first—of course they’ll fall in love!) must race against time to save magical sand from Dastan’s father’s murderer. Along for the ride is the lovable Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina), an ostrich race promoter.
While some of the time-stopping sand special effects are slightly lame and cheesy (especially coming from Mike “Director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” Newell), all other aspects of the film lend themselves to a fun summer blockbuster. The parkour feats that Dastan pulls off are just incredibly impressive. It’s almost reminiscent of that great opening sequence of Casino Royale but the WHOLE film. Every fight is just a new way to show how agile Gyllenhaal’s stunt double is, and I’m okay with it. Some action films can become jumbled with too many camera angles and getting overly complicated, but Prince of Persia is perfectly simple—everything is easy to follow and the fight scenes are filmed perfectly.
There are really no great acting feats to discuss here. Gyllenhaal is capable enough, even with a bum accent and a bad Mystic Tan, but I’m still not quite sold on his leading man prowess. Arterton basically does the same act she pulled in the Clash of the Titans remake, flipping between damsel in distress and a mysterious lady who knows more than she’s letting on. Even Kingsley kinda phones it all in. The only actor who really seems to having a blast with the material is Molina, who plays the fine line between sleaze and decency.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time may not be the best summer blockbuster I’ve ever seen, but it is simply a perfect summer movie that doesn’t try to jumble things with a convoluted plot and a swollen running time. It is simple, fun, and full of awesome action. What more do you need in a summer movie?
--Darcie Duttweiler
While some of the time-stopping sand special effects are slightly lame and cheesy (especially coming from Mike “Director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” Newell), all other aspects of the film lend themselves to a fun summer blockbuster. The parkour feats that Dastan pulls off are just incredibly impressive. It’s almost reminiscent of that great opening sequence of Casino Royale but the WHOLE film. Every fight is just a new way to show how agile Gyllenhaal’s stunt double is, and I’m okay with it. Some action films can become jumbled with too many camera angles and getting overly complicated, but Prince of Persia is perfectly simple—everything is easy to follow and the fight scenes are filmed perfectly.
There are really no great acting feats to discuss here. Gyllenhaal is capable enough, even with a bum accent and a bad Mystic Tan, but I’m still not quite sold on his leading man prowess. Arterton basically does the same act she pulled in the Clash of the Titans remake, flipping between damsel in distress and a mysterious lady who knows more than she’s letting on. Even Kingsley kinda phones it all in. The only actor who really seems to having a blast with the material is Molina, who plays the fine line between sleaze and decency.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time may not be the best summer blockbuster I’ve ever seen, but it is simply a perfect summer movie that doesn’t try to jumble things with a convoluted plot and a swollen running time. It is simple, fun, and full of awesome action. What more do you need in a summer movie?
--Darcie Duttweiler
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