Prince of Persia: Les Sables du temps

It isn't often that a video game is so vivid, so involving...so enveloping, that it is looked on as a possible movie franchise on all those merits. Usually, just the action (Doom, Final Fantasy), or just the body (Lara Croft...Tomb Raider) or just some other one aspect makes for a great game, but an underwhelming movie. I had the pleasure of watching this movie in an early screening on Monday night, and it is definitely a step above and beyond the aforementioned videogames-turned-movies.

The hallmark from the very beginning of the Prince of Persia franchise (a primitive DOS programmed, side-scrolling adventure through a castle to rescue a locked-up princess) was not only having a great story, but telling it in such a way to keep the player in that world. This film, surprisingly enough, doesn't play out quite as closely to the video games as I had expected. Still, without spoiling either the games or this movie, I can say that it shows Jordan Mechner had full involvement in the movie. Many storytelling elements present in the "Prince of Peria: The Sands of Time" video game can be found here, and made for a very entertaining romp through the vast lands of Persia.

I would say that my main gripe is the under-use of parkour, the running/fighting style the Prince deploys in the video games. This is a hard gripe to substantiate though, because of how difficult parkour is to execute, let alone master, nonetheless I had expected something resembling the wall-running, banner-ripping moves seen in the "Sands of Time" video game trilogy. It's harder still to be too down on a little parkour, due to Disney's desire that this film would be the first in a Prince of Persia movie franchise, equal to or greater than the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise. Therefore, I await with anticipation the creativity that more parkour would bring to the stories this most agile Prince can tell.

"Prince of Peria: The Sands of Time" gets 8 of 10 stars.

I've never played the Prince of Persia games, but this movie wants me to try one of the games. The movie is very good and the visuals are stunning.

I liked the way Gyllenhaal played the role of Dastan. There is a charm to him that renders the movie a pleasure to watch. He's got style. Go for it people. Whatever the critics say it has got magic in it to my want to see it again and be awed. It's a joy to watch Dastan in action. Take it from me .....it couldn't have been better.

We all know the score. Movie based on a video game, it's going to be poor, right? Well actually Bruckheimer, Newell and Disney beg to differ, and I have to agree with them on this one.

It's not perfect, but it is far superior to many other efforts that came before it. Even those that promised much like Hit-man failed to deliver on the hype beforehand, so with a trailer that had me questioning how good this really was (in hindsight it held back a lot of story reveals and the better scenes, which was quite a gamble) I went in not sure what I would get.

And what I got was a film made by people who seemed to understand what was required to entertain. The flow was perfect, and the story seemed to run cohesively. The story itself wasn't groundbreaking and at times could be a little predictable, but it was enjoyable and not over complicated or patchy.

Jake Gyllenhaal is an indie movie mainstay, so to see him in a role like this was interesting. He certainly looked the part and didn't do a bad job on the English accent, but the acting ability of the guy in general made him believable. Gemma Arteton has at time felt a little wooden in films I have seen her in, but this role of the feisty princess worked well for her and her chemistry with Gyllenhaal made the characters more believable.

The supporting cast were solid too, and the comedy turn from Molina's Amar was a very welcome addition.

But then a film like this will also live or die on the action, and this is an area that may divide people. The film wasn't packed out with it, but what action scenes there were came at perfect moments in the story, and some had genuine class to them. The nod to the earlier prince of Persia games too will not be lost on some of the older audience, like the leaping from one roof to another and climbing and running across strategic poles stuck out of walls. It offered a return to the swashbuckling sword fighting that looks very impressive and doesn't require a CGI monster to enhance it in any way.

To summarise this movie I would offer a comparison to another Disney film that was born of a different media, Pirates of the Caribbean, a ride that became a successful film franchise. Prince of Persia soars towards that level of quality, and is only really let down by a lack of a scene stealer of Captain Jack Sparrow's genius.

But it certainly has made a claim for the best video game adaptation of them all.

Was the movie good? actually yes!! I truly enjoyed this persian wonderful and magical adventure. you will hold your breath while you watch it, you will be thrilled and certainly you will enjoy it. this movie is the good choice to make if you want to entertain your self. Disney people made a beautiful summer movie based on a video game. the direction, graphic, and the acting was good, but the story is not that strong, they could've made it better by adding more deepness to the Characters and the plot, you will enjoy this movie but you will not be touched by it because of it's Shallowness.The Prince Of Persia is an imperfect movie, but an enjoyable one. And you're gonna like it. :D