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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time tells the story of a royal family that is being undermined by a corrupt uncle (Ben Kingsley) who wants to use a magical dagger to turn back the sands of time. The dagger falls into the hands of Price Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) who then is forced to flee with rival Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) after he is framed for the murder of his father. Dastan and Tamina then race across the dessert running into trouble all along the way until they return to face the evil uncle and try and try the world from falling apart in the films final scenes.
This film is not intended to be able to stand on its acting performances. It is purely and action film designed to dazzle the audience with its special effects and thrilling battles. However, the cheesy 1990’s special effects do not distract the audience away from the lack of story and poor acting as they were meant to. The stylized slow motion camera rotations feel like the special effects crew lifted them right out of the video game. When you make a video game movie you are not supposed to just copy what people saw in the game you are supposed to show them what they could never experience with a game, especially a game that was released in 2003.
Veteran director Mike Newell who has directed: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Donnie Brasco just to name a few should have known better. If he thought that the action would distract the audience from the performances he was wrong, if he thought the performances were up to par he was also wrong. As a long time director he should have demanded more from his crew and his cast. Then maybe Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could have qualified as good escapism moviemaking. Instead it qualifies as another bad video game film.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time receives 1½ out of 5 stars. | 