Prince of Persia - Le sabbie del tempo

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.

First of all when I read some of the reviews about this movie all my excitement was drained but I went to see it anyway. What do you now, the movie was great. It was fun, had a lot of action in it, the CGI was nice (excecpt few scenes in the beginning). I thought acting was nice Gyllenhaal (prince) and Arterton (Princess) did a good job in my opinion. As a fun of the game; the script wasn't entirely accurate just like most of the movies based on games but it didn't stray too far either. OK it was not the perfect movie but it was something that I would go and watch its sequel.

Overall I enjoyed myself and I believe if you go open minded you will enjoy yourself too.

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.

Never played the video game, but I enjoyed this film suitably.

It has flaws, though there's enough to like about 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'. I rate Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor, while I don't think he's perfect for this role I did enjoy his performance all in all. The special effects are neat, especially for the dagger. The support cast are satisfactory, Alfred Molina being the standout behind Gyllenhaal.

The premise is a pretty fascinating one, but I don't feel there is enough there for a near 2hr production. It felt, a number of times, that the story was going round in circles and overextending itself in order to fill the run time, there are many times where 'A' runs from 'B', 'B' finds 'A' instantly, 'A' gets away. In many different guises, but it kept happening.

Could've been far greater, but I still come away from viewing this fairly positively.

The common view amongst "professional" reviews is that the movie is average. scoring below 50% from Rotten Tomatoes, and MetaCritic, and notably a 2 out of 4 stars from Roger Ebert. The average user ranking on MC puts it at 9 out of 10.

Most reviews range anywhere from 8 out of 10, to as low as 2 or 3 out of 10.

If there's one thing critics can agree on, its that the movie is clichéd, borrowing elements from plenty of epics based in the Middle East and fantasy alike, and that it's loads of fun.

The one thing no one can agree on is whether that's good or bad.

It should be pointed out that this film is produced by the same company/studio that brought us 'Pirates of the Caribbean', and it certainly shows.

With that said, I'll lead into my thoughts on the film. The first "Pirates" scored on average a 7.8 - 6.4 of 10, while the sequels averaged anywhere from 4.5 to 5.3. I'd say this movie is better than the sequels while not as good as the first.

So, I'd give it roughly a 7 out of 10.

The story is fun, for what it is. Which is a rough retelling of the video game "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", while incorporating elements of the following two sequels, as well as incorporating stylistic elements from the following game and the first three of the original trilogy. Thats right! Based loosely on one game, borrowing elements from SIX more. The movie is stretched too thin, and it shows.

The movie feels like your prototypical "sword and sandal" action flick, borrowing heavily from films like "The Thief of Baghdad", and stories found in "1001 Nights". So think 'Arabian Nights', Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Aladdin, all mixed with some Steve Reeves 'Hercules' and Robert E. Howard 'Conan' flash.

Is it as cheesy as that sounds? YES! Is it as awesome as that sounds? YES!

But it's still well edited, well acted, well scored (Harry Gregson-Williams never fails), and overall well done enough to merit an enjoyable experience.

The ONLY complaints I can think of are few, but here they are: A bit too much CGI, not on the stunts (not much CGI there surprisingly) but on things like demonic-esque snakes (you'll see). Too much random slow-motion. The sexual-tension seemed too forced (too many of those really slow "they're about to kiss but don't" moments). And whereas yes, the ending is supposed to have a "Deus-Ex-Machina" feel to it, in the game it is much more thorough and more explained, in the movie you're just expected to roll with it.

Other than that. A fun night at the movies! Grab your over-priced candy, soda, and popcorn (or do like me and sneak snacks in) and have fun with friends, family and loved ones, recapturing the fun escapism of your childhood with an epic but cliché action movie.

Hope you enjoyed my review... And I hope you enjoy the movie too!