"You can't organize an Ostrich race with just one Ostrich!"

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2010)

I understand that this movie is based on (or inspired by) the video game of the same name. I am not familiar with the video game so I take the movie on its own merits.
The story is set in the 4th or 5th century, according to the producers, when Persia stretched from the Mediterranian Sea to the Steppe of China. Today relatively small Iran is a remnant of Persia.
However the movie was filmed in French Morroco and on very large sets inside the sound stages of Pinewood studios, with features faithfully reproduced to match the exterior scenes in Morocco.
The King of Persia is a wise king, with two young sons. But one day in a crowded marketplace witnesses a small boy, an orphan of about 10, come to the aid of another young boy by throwing an apple at the aggressive soldier, and running to safety. Impressed, the King adopts the young boy, Dastan, who grows up as one of his sons, a Prince of Persia.
Cut to 15 years later and Jake Gyllenhaal is Dastan. When they raid a walled city, suspected of making knives for the enemies of Persia, Dastan is the hero, and he is attracted to the Princess, Gemma Arterton as Tamina. Ben Kingsley is Nizam, the brother of the King, and the one who reported the weapons suspicion.
The "Sands of Time" part of the title refers to a special dagger, with a special "sand of time" in its handle, and when the ruby on the butt of the knife is pressed, it can reverse time for a short period. With unlimited sand, it could reverse time for an unlimited period, and this become the central theme of the entire story.
Dastan finds himself in trouble, and must flee. One place he goes he meets Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar, who among other things is a promoter of Ostrich races. (Real jockeys were hired to ride the Ostriches, and the DVD extras has funny scenes of them falling off.) When Dastan has to release all the Ostriches as diversion, when he later encounters Amar, with only one Ostrich left, he is told, "You can't organize an Ostrich race with just one Ostrich!"
Overall I enjoyed this movie very much. There are a number of interesting situations that are handled well and Gyllenhaal turns out to be quite good as an action hero.
SPOILERS: It turns out that Nizam, who appears to be loyal, has actually been envious of his brother. His report of weapons was false, a ruse to allow him to steal the dagger, to turn back time so that his brother would die, none of the sons would be born, and Nizam would have been the King. But Dastan finally figures it all out and makes things right in the inventive and exciting last scenes. Then he turns back time to when they raided the walled city and instead of defeating the inhabitants, he made everyone aware of Nizam's lie and prevented the battle. His brother, killed in a fight, no longer was dead. And Dastan gets the Princess.