You won't be blown away, but you'll probably enjoy yourself a bit.

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2010)

"But perhaps there was something else at work that day, something beyond simple understanding. The day a boy from the unlikeliest of places became a prince of Persia."
When a video game movie meets a big summer event movie, it's not unreasonable to expect a disaster to result. Prince of Persia isn't a disaster, thankfully, but it also doesn't go beyond disposable entertainment.
I won't go much into the plot, because there's not much of a plot to go into. Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) was a lowly street urchin who was adopted into the royal family of Persia as a child after performing a heroic deed before the king. After he's framed for the death of his adopted father, he goes on the run with a princess of a conquered city to keep a magical dagger out of the hands of those who set him up. Along the way, there's ostrich racing. sword fights, and lots and lots of sand.
Prince of Persia is at its best during the numerous fun action sequences, which include lots of the impressive feats of free running, climbing, and acrobatics that make the games so popular. It never quite achieves the sense of epicness that it occasionally reaches for, and there's really no memorable parts that stick out after the movie is done. Which means no real reason to watch it again after the first viewing.
As for the cast, I thought they were okay. This wasn't a movie that was exactly demanding when it came to acting, but everyone did what they could with the merely adequate writing. The special effects were decent, the sand-swept vistas were eye- catching, and there weren't any huge flaws to point out...but there wasn't anything that the movie did particularly well, either. Prince of Persia is worth watching one time if you just want some mindless entertainment for a few hours, but don't expect the charm and excitement of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie (which Bruckheimer was obviously going for).