Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Movie Review
By DrPockets000 3 Comments
The first thing I noticed about PoP: The Sands of Time was how great it looks. This is the biggest production ever to be filmed in the UK, and it shows. Huge set pieces, elaborate action sequences, and beautiful locales permeate the film, and the massive budget seems to have gone to very good use. Director Mike Newell, who also helmed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, showed in that film that he has a good eye for action at the very least, and he hones his chops here with some impressive sequences, my favorite being one toward the end when two master knife throwers have a face-off, taking cover and slinging countless knives at each other across the room. Also impressive was the acrobatic stunts. While the parkour all felt somewhat synthetic in comparison to other films such as Casino Royale and District B-13, it was still exciting to watch and was well-choreographed.
Jake Gyllenhaal was a questionable casting choice to many when the news first came through, but he is convincing here as the Prince and slides easily into the role. His accent sounds a little hammy, but first and foremost his role here is to be an action star and he pulls it off well. Gemma Arterton is batting three for three as she once again plays a beautiful heroine, and plays her well. Arterton is a star to keep an eye on. Although the film plays if off as a huge reveal midway through, it is painfully obvious from the beginning that the vizier (Ben Kingsley) is meant the be the villain here, and once he actually becomes the villain, he once again knocks it out of the park. Kingsley is a great actor and he is clearly having fun here as the scheming uncle. Alfred Molina is also notable as the comic relief, a sheik who hates taxes and runs an ostrich racing ring.
My biggest problem with the movie was the script. It was pretty bad, and incredibly by-the-numbers. There are some absolutely ham-fisted lines of dialog here, and it seems that the scrip-writer went through a checklist of everything that needs to happen in a blockbuster film. This has every element one would expect from a movie of this caliber, right down to the Prince dropping in on a chamber of princesses. In addition, I did not much care for the deux ex machina toward the end of the movie (I never like when movies do these, even if it did sort of fit with the plot here), though the few minutes that followed were refreshingly un-cliche in their execution.
On the bright side, this film will likely please fans of the game. It is very light-hearted and stays far away from the dark, angsty tone of the two video game sequels. It seems like it was directed at a family-oriented audience, despite some occasionally surprising levels of violence and the fact that the plot takes a bizarre turn later in the film, mentioning gods, the end of the world, and so on. Bruckheimer plans for this to be the next huge franchise for Disney, so I'm excited to see where the sequels go with the material hinted at in this film. That means I want to see the sequels, which I guess means I enjoyed this movie.
Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time was not a great movie. But it sure as hell was not bad. It was good, not quite mediocre, and a fairly fun couple of hours if you can ignore the agressively light-hearted tone and occasional kiddie stuff. If you have kids, it's probably going to be a great time. Though somewhat flawed, it's pure summer escapism.
Score: B-
