Inconsequential awesomeness

Rating: 7/10 (30 January 2016)

Although I haven't yet ceased obsessing about Mad Max: Fury Road, I have little patience for action films. As a late teen, and one raised on violence, cartoons, and the Internet, my desensitization was quick and irreversible. As a result -- despite requiring some time to form a capacity for unfettered critical thought -- I eventually realized that I find action films simply unbearable. Of course, every once in awhile I am proved wrong by action films that push the boundaries of my bias, but this is usually if the film in question is either technically brilliant or manages an emotional effect.
But there is nothing wrong with inconsequential entertainment, especially if said entertainment does not attempt to pretend that it is more than it is. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an excellent example of this. It is pure, silly fun, relying on clichés and stunts to carry its slipshod plot along to a satisfying conclusion. While this of course isn't what one would expect to be a "good film", I think that the film's ability to deliver on the expected while exercising effective creative restraint - never overstepping the limits of its genre - is worthy of appraisal.
I didn't know that Prince of Persia was an adaptation of a video game until I after I saw the film. As such, I'm sure that my expectations were higher than those of critics, and I find that low expectations often result in poor experiences. But it does at first feel like a video game, complete with fighting, running, simple problem solving, and excessively smooth and mobile camera-work.
However, the film leaves its video game visuals behind by the end of the first action scene, opting for a more conventional action style (with a few neat visual tricks). Although the plot is simple and goofy, and the acting even more so, the action scenes are relatively smooth and enjoyable. There is one scene - involving snakes - that is almost too good to be true, and another involving the craziest knife-toss of all time that left me grinning like a goon for the remainder of the film. I don't care if what I saw came from a video game, because as a teenager, I can say with absolute certainty that it's FREAKING AWESOME.
As bad as this film is, it is satisfying and fun, and that is really what action films should try to be.