Questionable Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Video games are awesome. This is a fact. Movies are also awesome. This too is irrefutable. However, something that can also go without saying is the sad truth that, while video games based on movies have greatly improved over time, the same cannot be said about movies based on video games. No matter how strong the source material, Hollywood writers and directors never seem to "get it" when it comes to interpreting the extremely interactive medium of gaming onto the silver screen.

Enter "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", a game series recently concluded by game developer Ubisoft and now a movie adaptation by Disney of all people. The PoP series became a hit with gamers for its innovative gameplay involving time manipulation and acrobatic platforming. and the tone, ambiance, and lore of its mythical Middle-Eastern setting. The big question remains, though: will Prince of Persia finally rise above the trash heap of bad game movies and bring a new standard to the genre? Or are you better off just burying your head in the sand and forgetting about this one?

SO WHAT'S THIS MOVIE ABOUT?

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" revolves around the titular character of Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal). Adopted by the king into the Persian royal family, Dastan grows up to become a mighty, if not particularly goofy, warrior. After a hasty conquering of the holy city of Alamut, Dastan finds a mysterious dagger that he takes as his prize much to the dismay of the city's princess, Tamina (Gemma Arterton). However, the victory is short-lived, as Dastan's father is killed and he finds himself accused of the murder. Now, accompanied only by the reluctant Tamina, Dastan must unravel the mystery of his father's death, the powers of the dagger in his possession, and must clear his name with the whole of the Persian Empire pursuing him.

SO WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THIS MOVIE?

Two words. ACK SHUN (at least I think it's two words)! Prince of Persia contains almost a pervasive amount of action scenes. Although this might not always be the most positive thing for the movie's narrative, it at least provides a large amount of eye candy. All the characters are at the very least likeable, although Gyllenhaal's and Arterton's (talk about eye candy) respective performances are a little underwhelming. Rather, it is the performance of minor characters like Alfred Molina as an unscrupulous merchant and Ben Kingsley as Dastan's uncle and the royal vizier that actually stand out. The special effects are all well done, and the sets provide a great level of atmosphere to the proceedings, even if they do abandon the dream-like style of the game for a more cliche'd Arabian Nights asthetic. Lastly, the score is decent and (perhaps most importantly) the movie sticks close enough to the style and story of the game to satisfy fanboys.

SO WHAT SUCKS ABOUT THIS MOVIE?

In contradiction to what I just said, the story probably DOES stray a little too far from the source material. Despite many things it does right, this movie is still guilty of over-complicating an extremely easy to execute story. Instead, it tries to introduce too many ideas and plot threads, most of which get resolved far too quickly to be satisfying. This makes the narrative of the movie constantly feel like it's attempting to catch up to the break-neck action happening every other minute. Furthermore, this makes many of the characters feel shallow and underdeveloped. It's also of note that the time-manipulating dagger, the movie's most interesting concept, is painfully under utilized; the movie is called The Sands of Time, so why isn't this talent exploited to its fullest potential?!

ANYTHING ELSE?

It's probably not clear whether or not, if you're a fan of the Prince of Persia games, you'll be a fan of the movie. Yes, the movie takes liberties with the story of The Sands of Time trilogy, but overall, there's enough here that is actually pretty faithful. The overall story is that of the Sands of Time video game, with the lead characters' personalities more closely resembling their counterparts from the 2008 Prince of Persia game. Other nods include the Dastan's battle armor resembling his outfit from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and one of the whips of the dastardly assassins resembling the whip-sword from Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

If you're a fan of the series, you'll at least have fun spotting all the references.

SO WHAT'S THE FINAL VERDICT?

Prince of Persia is a decent action flick. It's good, mindless, swashbuckling fun in a unique setting and little else. As such, it makes it the BEST video game to movie adaptation ever, and a charming film to watch with the whole family. It has plenty of faults, but there certainly is no harm seeing this one as a matinee for a fun-filled afternoon.