Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (***)
Directed by: Mike NewellStarring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle, Ronald Pickup
Seen: May 26th 2010
*** Out of ****
Prince of Persia opens in 6th century Persia, where two boys are playing in the streets. One accidentally runs into of a group of passing soldiers, who start beating him up. His friend saves him by getting the guards’ attention, and leading them on a chase across rooftops and through market stalls before being caught himself. As the guards prepare punishment, King Sharaman (Pickup), who has witnessed the entire spectacle, intercedes and takes the boy in, adopting him as his own son. This boy grows up to be Dastan (Gyllenhaal), a Prince of Persia, and the leader of the ragtag group of mercenaries in the army. His brothers are Tus (Coyle), who is next in line for the crown, and Garsiv (Kebbell), who is loyal in his support.
In the absence of King Sharaman, the brothers decide to conquer the holy city of Alamut, based on evidence of weapons smuggling with enemies of the Persian Empire. Even though Dastan does not fully support the attack, he aids his kingdom and becomes the hero to breach the city’s gates and allow the successful capture of the city and its beautiful princess, Tamina (Arterton). During the celebrations the King is assassinated though, and suspicion falls on Dastan. Tamina assists him in escaping, as she has seen him carrying a dagger that she was in fact trying to hide from the invaders – and now she is plotting to get it back. The dagger has mystical powers which in the wrong hands can bring the world to an unfortunate end, and they have to keep on running to try and stay one step ahead.
Prince of Persia is by no means a fantastic life-changing movie, but it is a whole lot of fun and when compared to other movies in its class it actually stands tall. Barring the brilliance that is Johnny Depp it is far better than the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and the Mummy series wishes it could have had the character interaction on display here between just about any two actors. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton have great chemistry, and in Princess Tamina Arterton also provides a feisty companion and worthy adversary for Jake Gyllenhaal until the real villain surfaces. In Sheik Amar, Alfred Molina presents a very entertaining character who gives more than the necessary scoundrel element required in a movie such as this. He enjoys his Ostrich races every Tuesday and Thursday, he refuses to pay taxes to a corrupt government, and he runs the Valley of Thieves with an astute eye for a scary aesthetic to present to the outside world. At various times during the movie I found myself thinking that the production values are very good, as nothing looks plastic (think about the armour and weapons and other special effects in the first Narnia movie) and none of the special effects look hastily constructed (think of medusa in Clash of the Titans – maybe they bargained on the viewers also not wanting to sneak a peak). The city of Alamut competes with Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings in grandeur and realism, and the action sequences are an exciting blend of spectacle and impressive choreography. The movie also has its fair share of innocent humour, and I enjoyed it.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time delivers a no-mess, no-fuss afternoon of relaxing entertainment while not frustrating the viewer with too many plot-holes or unexplained jumps in storytelling (see Robin Hood) or utter stupidity (see the fitfully entertaining but stupidly annoying Transformers 2). Prince of Persia is pure escapism, and if you’re a fan of the game there will be plenty throwbacks to cheer for. All in all a very fun movie then, go and see Prince of Persia on the big screen.
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