Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie review

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Ok it’s been quite a while but a new movie based on a video game has finally come out, and it’s a big one. Can the team that turned a 20 minute theme park ride into three feature length movies make what could possibly be the best video game adaptation of all time? Well read on and find out. Also this may contain some spoilers.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is about Prince Dastan who is framed for his father’s murder. During the movie the prince must uncover the true villain while dealing with the Persian army, Persian ninjas, a deceptive princess and desert bandits.

This movie has a lot of advantages that other video game movies don’t. It has a huge budget, three a-list actors, and an experienced production crew. But can all these things really help. Well I say yes. The plots to the movie and the game are almost completely different. In the game the Prince accidently releases the sands of time and sets off to undue his mistake. While the movie focuses on Dastan trying to prevent the sands from being released. Does this work against the movie? Not in my opinion.

Prince of Persia is the prime example of a game that’s plot would not work well in a movie. In the game there are only four characters. One dies, one is the villain and the other two aren’t always on screen at the same time. So instead of making a scene for scene adaptation the movie takes a few things from the game and the basic plot and expanded upon it making it its own entity.

I just mentioned the lack of characters in the game so what does the movie give us? Well instead of just one prince we get three. Dastan has two brothers while in the game he is an only child. Another change taken is that Dastan isn’t even the king’s natural born son. At the beginning of the movie he’s an orphan boy who is adopted by the king. In place of the Vizier we get the kings brother Nizam. Farah’s Character is present in Tamina and the only difference from the game is her name and the city she is from.

The relationship between Dastan and Tamina is very accurate to how it is in the game. They are untrusting of each other and not very happy about being forced to work together and bicker constantly. There is one scene where like in the games there is a gate separating them and Tamina has to pull a lever to open it. But unlike in the games she refuses and Dastan has to open it himself.

The most prominent element from the game is also in the movie. Dastan’s acrobatic skills and Parkour like maneuvers are used a lot in the game for puzzle solving and in the movie in almost every action scene. Right at the beginning of the movie even as a child Dastan is climbing walls and hoping from roof to roof, though they do have him make a few mistakes as he has not perfected his skills. Later in the movie a lot of the sets are similar to parts in the third game when you’re outside.

Other things we get from the game are the time dagger of course, and like in the game it has limited usage but unlike in the game it’s not easy to refill. Dastan’s armor is very similar to the armor in the second game and he also duel wields swords like in the second game. When the prince uses the dagger the effect they use is very similar to the third game when the prince is infected with the sands.

I thought the acting was fantastic I felt connected to the characters and was genuinely concerned during the scenes they were in trouble. Gemma Arterton is beautiful as Tamina and does a great job of portraying a strong independent woman. Sir Ben Kingsley plays a great villain as always. Alfred Molina is very funny as a sort of comic relief and his character complains about taxes a lot which I thought was funny considering the recent events with the tea party.

Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as the prince. His attitude and mannerisms are spot on also he really buffed up for the role. This is the first really action heavy movie I have seen him in and he was great very quick and natural with the swords and I hope they green light a full trilogy.

How would I do it? Only thing I can think of to change is I would shorten the time Dastan and Tamina spend in the desert to allow for more exploration scenes in the tunnels leading to where the sands of time are so that you could see Dastan avoiding traps like in the games.

Overall the movie is entertaining and very enjoyable to a whole range of movie goers. Anyone from adults to nine year olds can enjoy this movie and there is enough of the game in there to make it feel like Prince of Persia. There will no doubt be hardcore fans of the game series who will find something to complain about but that will always be true as long as there are movie adaptations. Now on to the scores.

Overall the movie gets 8 out of 10 grains of sand. Is it the most accurate video game movie of all time? No. is it the most entertaining and enjoyable video game movie of all time? Yes.

The acting gets 9 out of 10. I thought Dastan and Tamina played really well off of each other and Ben Kingsley’s version of the Vizier is better than the one in the game in my opinion.

The plot gets 6 out of 10. Don’t get me wrong I loved the story and a direct retelling of the first game would not have worked but this score is based on how close a movie’s plot resembles the game it’s based on.

Content gets 8 out of 10. Some characters have changed roles or names but it’s obvious which ones from the game they are based on. The sets, weapons and outfits all resemble ones from the game and the most important piece, the time dagger, is in it as well.

That does it. This review marks my first attempt at editing myself. I have some decent ideas in my opinion but I’m not the best editor and that was the major complaint I got on my other reviews. Up next is my review of the Megaman fan film should have that within a few days. That will be followed by Tekken or Art of Fighting whichever one I can get my hands on first.