Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is based on the long-running Prince of Persia video game series. More specifically, it is based on the 2003 game that it’s named after. Video game movies have a history of being…..well…..not very good…at all. Does Prince of Persia suffer the same fate as other video game movie adaptations? Or is it a pleasant surprise?

The movie tells the story of… Well, I think it would be safe for anyone to guess that this movie isn’t about story, it’s an action/adventure movie that definitely puts action and adventure first, story and characters second. Nevertheless, the movie tells the story of Dastan (Jake Gyllehaal), an orphan in ancient Persia who ends up being adopted by the king of Persia. This, as the title suggests, makes him a prince of Persia.

Years later, Dastan and his stepbrothers lead an army into the unassuming city of Alamut, where he finds a mysterious dagger. The handle of the dagger contains the sands of an ancient sanctuary that, when released from said handle, send its wielder back in time. It turns out this dagger was the real reason behind the siege on Alamut, and Dastan and his brothers were merely being used in a bigger plot. A plot that also involves the murder of the king of Persia, and Dastan being framed for the crime.

I hope I haven’t spoiled anything. But that’s only the setup. And as stated before, the plot of the movie is secondary to all the action and adventuring. And while the story does surprisingly have a few fun twists here and there, the action ends up being actually quite entertaining at times.

Yes, Prince of Persia actually can succeed in the action department when it wants to. Some action scenes get ridiculous yes, but it makes up for them with extensive and exciting action sequences spread throughout the film. You can get the impression that some aspects of the video games were incorporated into some of these (like the building-hopping, which just seems to scream video game). This can either feel like honest incorporations or feel a little ridiculous. I’ll leave you to decide for yourself how they come off and when. But I kind of liked it.

Along with Dastan, the other main characters include Tamina (Gemma Arterton), the princess of Alamut, Dastan’s love interest, and the mystical plot device character (yeah, she’s archetypal, but what did you expect?). Dastan’s brothers (Richard Coyle and Toby Kebbell) show up here and there to make things more interesting, and their uncle (and royal advisor) Nizam (Ben Kingsley) plays the role of sneaky, conniving antagonist. Oh, and Alfred Molina shows up to provide comic relief, and he manages to liven up the otherwise predictable character roster.

The dialogue isn’t anything pecial. But at least the movie seems to be aware of it, and goes back to the action as much as possible to keep things exciting. Still, I wish it would have tried a wee bit harder to provide some memorable quotes (outside of Alfred Molina, I mean).

Though I did mention the plot does have some fun “twists.” These are mostly due to the time-traveling aspects of the Sands of Time. It gives us some interesting moments that don’t get any confusing due to the limited usage of time-travel (because not every movie can have as firm of a grasp on the concept of time-travel as Back to the Future). But when the time-travel isn’t in use and bad guys aren’t being fought, the story wears a little thin after a while.

When the story becomes more prominent, it can get a bit antsy. But the action sequences are fun enough that you’ll probably forget about that.

So it’s suffice to say the movie doesn’t make many attempts to tell an enthralling story or make really endearing characters. It’s a movie that’s all about the action, but thankfully, it does the action right for the most part. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time isn’t anything notably special, but it provides some good entertainment. And it’s head and shoulders above most video game movies, and it actually bares resemblance to its source material. That’s more than I can say for that Super Mario Bros. movie.

“Did you Ostriches have suicidal tendencies?”

(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10, rated)

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