Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Newell is good with actors – the mischievous and sparkly Gyllenhaal / Arterton duet is a pleasure to watch – but Newell is desperate not to do it with epic sauce. Even in Harry Potter, it was noticeable when some of the conversations were the funniest and most impressive things about the film. Prince of Persia is putting on a sterile crown. Futile fancy magic with a "game-like" camera, parkour walled in by the editing, and duels that are wooden and lack anything. Some of the images are unbearably plastic instead of fabulously magical. Nevertheless, I had a very satisfying time with the film. As a fairytale it works (thanks to the actors), only the feeling of plastic harmlessness of the environment limits the fantasy. The Prince of Persia is such a nice Disney figure who doesn't offend. Sometimes he delights, sometimes he jumps around without even plucking out of lethargy. Too bad, the potential was there, and it was considerable. I will miss Jake's veal conception in action fantasy. (01/09/2010)

A brisk film, in which there is practically no room for boredom (almost two hours pass by... like sand in an hourglass), the music was good, the special effects were good, the casting of all the roles (especially Ben Kingsley) was quite successful. I do have reservations about some of the dull dialogue, but considering that Prince is actually a simple summer popcorn flick with the goal of entertaining and not offending, it's not that bad. Perhaps the scriptwriters could have pushed the humor a little harder. And Mike Newell could've saved on the editing. I would definitely enjoy the parkour antics on the rooftops and one hard-to-see "escape" scene in particular more in longer shots. Three and a half. (30/06/2010)

The most talkative fairy tale that Scheherazade told us. Prince Dastan has an argument for everything, and Princess Tamina has the sharpest tongue ever known in the East, and among all the dialogues and arguments, one sometimes wishes for the storyteller's spirit to reappear, spreading the play around him in every step, jump, or duel. However, the plot pleased me more than I dared to expect. The game creator added exactly those plot twists that fascinated me in the original, and the dagger, the hourglass, the villain, and the chemistry of the main duo decided that the atmosphere of the Sands of Time had arrived. 70% (01/06/2010)

Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton are the two reasons that I am inclined to give this flick a higher rating. You won’t find a more likeable couple in any adventure spectacle. This film is driven by spectacular set designs, good music and a pleasantly exotic atmosphere, but what does affect the movie in a bad way is the minimum of original ideas, ignoring the potential of supporting characters and surprisingly confusing action scenes. Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy and Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean were simply more refined. (20/05/2010)

Surprisingly, it exceeded my (to be honest, very low) expectations. Prince of Persia is a harmless summer blockbuster with a very likeable main couple. The story doesn’t try to be smart (any viewer with at least some experience will guess the ending) and the performances aren’t brilliant, but that would’ve been too much to expect. I had fun, so I’m satisfied. 6/10 (18/08/2010)