Good Sword and Sandals Adventure, but Fans of the Games will be Disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (15 September 2015)

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time is supposed to be based on the video games of the early 2000s, and it does have some of the elements from the games: parkour, time-shifting elements, etc., but the film version of the PS2 classic is closer to an average sword and sandal adventure than the magical, sprawling world of the video game.
Prince of Persia tells the story of Prince Dastan, an Aladdin-type orphan thief turned Arabian hero, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as he attempts to stop the evil vizier, played by Ben Kingsley, from destroying the world and capture the affection of Gemma Arterton's beautiful princess Tamina. There is more to the story, but it all amounts to the basic "stop the bad guy, get the girl" story. That's not always a bad thing though, and Prince of Persia does add some clever time reversing tricks to the plot thanks to a mystical dagger that runs on the sands of time. However, with the exception of a back story regarding a ostrich farmer played by the always wonderful Alfred Molina, Prince of Persia's story is fairly strait forward.
Still, this outline could've made a truly great film, but Prince of Persia: Sands of Time fumbles some key elements. For one, the set design and the locations don't have the same type of flair as the game at all. Where the film could've taken us to enchanted gardens and vast temples, it sticks close to the typical cityscapes and mountain ranges. While some of the sets and locations in the film are impressive, it seems like a big missed opportunity to create a truly unique Arabian world. The other thing holding Prince of Persia back from reaching the heights of its video game inspiration is the action. The Prince of Persia series of games is built on parkour and sword combat. The movie has a fair amount of parkour and of course there is some fighting, but it all seems small-scale. The parkour is simple and practical instead of daring and dramatic like it is in the games. The same goes for the fighting. In the games it is epic, in the film it's kind of boring.
Don't get me wrong, Prince of Persia is a fun movie. The action is fast yet cohesive, the sets and costume give off a nice Arabian flair, and Alfred Molina breaks up the stiffness of the main characters nicely. It's simple, mindless Jerry Bruckheimer produced fun, but considering its source material, it could've been great. For fans of classic sword and sandal adventures it is well worth a watch, but fans of the game might be disappointed.
67/100