Prince of Persia

Directed by Mike Newell
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina
Released 21.05.10

So Mr Jerry ‘Big Buck producer’ Bruckheimer is back with another blockbuster to whip up a sandstorm of business this summer. Hoping to follow the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Prince of Persia is an epic adventure yarn with daring stunts, exotic locations and oodles of buckles to be swashed.

Based on the classic video game the movie version of Prince of Persia tells the story of Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a once orphaned street urchin now adopted and raised by the King of Persia. When Dastan uncovers the powers of a mystical dagger, capable of controlling the Sands of Time – a gift from the Gods that can reverse time, he reluctantly joins forces with a feisty princess (Gemma Arterton) to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

The good news is that this is probably the best film based on a video game in movie history. Bad news is there wasn’t much competition in the first place.

There’s much to enjoy in Mike Newell’s adventure, not least in the casting of Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton, who are almost living embodiments of Disney’s animated Aladdin. Gyllenhaal is blessed with Disney drawn eyes that will charm any movie goer, man or woman, in the multiplexes this summer. His charismatic turn as Dastan proving once again he has the gravitas to carry a big blockbuster in much the same way he has with indie flicks such as Donnie Darko.

His goofy charm and boyish heroics play nicely against Gemma Arterton’s Princess Tamina, who is both alluring and fool hardy. Their banter provides most of the fun in the movie and I found myself being swept along as they bicker their way across Persia.

There’s also solid support from Alfred Molina as desert entrepreneur Sheik Amar, who has a penchant for ostrich racing and Ben Kingsley as Dastan’s villainous Uncle Nizam. It all shapes up to be an Indiana Jones sized romp across the desert, but somehow manages to fall just short of the mark.

For a spectacular epic there sure isn’t much spectacle. The gravity defying acrobatics of Dastan and the time reversal powers of the dagger are directly lifted from the game. So it’s a shame that the producers decided to omit the sand zombies and creatures that play such a huge part in the Sands of Time videogame, opting for aerodynamic snake attacks instead.

The movie looks sumptuous and at times very entertaining, but ultimately forgettable. Actually I can’t remember one stand out sequence. It’s almost as if someone went back in time and wiped my memory. Uhhhh where’s that dagger?