Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

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)

For the longest time, I didn't want to believe that a feature film inspired by a legendary play could be such a flop. Sometimes it's actually better to go through the play footage and let the movie sleep. The only thing here that had any potential was Gemma Arterton's princess, but even she couldn't get out of the shadow of the likes of Dejah Thoris. (23/03/2021)

This was the first time I have ever experienced being absolutely alone in the auditorium. I proprietorially swooped with a glance over the empty auditorium, laughed and let myself be carried off to far away Persia where the brave prince Dastan, mouthy princess Tamina and one super cool dagger that turns time upside down, wander... wander and save the world and each other and do the usual marvelous fairytale things. A lot has changed since I last played “Prince of Persia" (around the year ‘98). For the better (and that’s saying something, it used to be my favorite platform game, along with “Aladdin") making it even more bombastic. Jerry B. had almost everything in control, as usual: feast-for-the-eyes Gemma Anderton dressed as a princess, towns, palaces, snakes, chasms, traps, but made the mistake of letting that sentimental Mike Newell direct the movie. The only benefit that he brought to the movie is confusing action scenes, but I could easily do without them. He spoiled part four of Potter in the same way, remember? But the saving grace of this movie is the excellent tempo (there’s always something happening and something to look at) and pleasant supporting characters. Initially, I couldn’t imagine Gyllenhaal in a role like this, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. And Harry Gregson-Williams did a good job with the music and, rather than originality, put his money on tried and tested themes with an oriental taste that is good to listen to. Did you know that ostriches have suicidal tendencies? Look at this poor thing! (31/07/2010)

The Action and cinematography are well-known from computer games (Assassin's Creed). The plot is empty, unnecessarily filtered, overcomplicated, and overly colorful. Uninteresting. Only the central duo is interesting, with well-crafted dialogue, but that is a bit too little for a 200 million USD film. The people behind it relied on attracting audiences with a similar hype to Avatar, but they forgot that James Cameron, besides excellent marketing and a certain astuteness in setting the boundaries between correctness and his own way, knows how to direct very well. Mike Newell has confirmed with this that he does not. (18/09/2010)

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)