Sand Dagger Time Machine is conventionally bland, impersonal and forgettable.
- Rated PG-13 for
intense sequences of violence and action.
- Who's going to like it: Fans of fluff Disney films like National Treasure and the “Pirates” sequels.
- Who's going to like it: Fans of fluff Disney films like National Treasure and the “Pirates” sequels.
Being a movie based on a video game, you know what you are getting yourself into with Prince Of Persia. For those who know the high-tech follow-ups to the original game, you will get what you expect. For those looking for a throwback to the 2-D original – including razor doors and “baby steps” – you are not going to get it.
Prince Of Persia is basically a live-action play on Aladdin. Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) plays Prince Dastan, a “street rat” orphan whom the king took off the streets and named his son after Dastan showed honor and integrity like a “diamond in the rough.”
Grown-up Dastan is the youngest of the king’s three heirs. Overseen by their uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley, Ghandi), the three of them raid the supposedly sacred city of Alamut for secretly selling arms to the Persian Empire’s enemies. After taking the city and its beautiful Queen Tamina (Gemma Arterton, Clash Of The Titans), Dastan gains possession of a unique dagger just before being set up for the assassination of the king. Seeing Dastan with the secretly sacred dagger, knowing that he is going to be killed, Tamina saves his life and the two of them go on the run.
Shortly into they journey, Dastan learns the secret power of the sand hilted dagger that Tamina was trying to keep secret. The dagger holds a gem button at the base of the handle that, when pushed, causes the wielder to slowly travel backwards in time and re-live the past, changing things to his or her own liking. Together, Dastan and Tamina travel as fugitives on a journey to prove his innocence, reveal the true assassin and keep the dagger safe from those who would use it for evil.
Prince Of Persia takes the cheap way out. Instead of doing something new and fresh with the concept, it simply does nothing more than what you have already seen in other time-manipulating movies. It feels like Clash Of The Titans with time travel and mediocre unrealistic video game action.
From the poor director of Mona Lisa Smile and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (the worst Harry Potter film of the whole franchise), Mike Newell, Prince Of Persia is all-around sub-par. The acting is phoned in. The action is poorly shot and edited. A constant tone to the film is absent. And any time that it starts to do something well, it is quickly ruined and made cheesy.
Along with Sex And The City 2, Prince Of Persia can also be viewed as highly offensive to those of the Middle East. Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley are average white people. Why in the world are they playing Persians? And as if that is not bad enough, why aren’t any other the other principle actors Middle Eastern? Why does a movie titled Prince Of PERSIA feature only a handful of Middle Eastern actors? Eye shadow does not make white people look Persian.
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is barely better than Clash Of The Titans – probably just because it wasn’t poorly transferred to 3-D. Don’t expect anything more than a video game turned sand-filled green screen summer Blockbuster.
Photo credit: Walt Disney
(2 out of 5)
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