Game over.

Rating: 3/10 (15 November 2016)

Disney's The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a film clearly designed to appeal to the entire family: for the mums to drool over, we have a buffed up Jake Gyllenhaal; for the dads there is the beautiful (but incredibly wooden) Gemma Arterton; and for the kids there is plenty of video game style action. Oh, and there's an ostrich race, and who doesn't like an ostrich race?
Shame that they forgot all about a decent plot.
The 'scribbled on the back of a napkin during a power lunch' story that has been built around the popular video game series sees Gyllenhaal's Prince Dastan trying to prevent a magical dagger that can reverse time from falling into the wrong hands. This allows for tons of ridiculous stunt-filled action in which Gyllenhaal's character performs impressive, nay impossible, feats of physicality, a fair amount of mild violence, and a little romance (although Gyllenhaal and Arterton share zero chemistry). Sadly any sense of genuine excitement or fun is swamped by the sheer predictability of proceedings (Ben Kingsley is the real villain? You don't say!) and the glut of CGI enhanced action set-pieces that only serve to bore.