Video Games as Films? The concept sets a low standard

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2010)

Video games. Since when did the art of film neglect fine screenplays, theatrical works, novels, and short stories as resources for cinema and settle for making kids' games movie material? It makes a statement about priorities, right? But given the fact that pure video game entertainment is that important (having never played, this viewer is at a disadvantage), PRINCE OF PERSIA is a surprisingly sound film produced with extravagance and vigor and a wealth of CGI effects, and whatever happens with the little machine held gismo for the video game manipulation to make the experience exciting, that experience has been very well transformed by writers Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, and game inventor/screen story creator Jordan Mechner. Disney joins Jerry Bruckheimer (with the fine help of director Mike Newell) in creating what should have been a resounding success at the box office extravaganza. But alas, this one fizzled. Why that happened is not apparent from the DVD.
Jake Gyllenhaal hits that happy medium as a daredevil Prince Dastan with just the right dose of derring-do stunts, charisma, and finely tuned comedy timing: he makes a great hero on screen, but the costumers should have allowed him to feature his well-developed physique he worked on for this role. But he makes the little orphan boy turned royal family believable and lovable. His adopted father, the king of Persia (Ronald Pickup), his 'brothers' (Toby Kebbell and Richard Coyle), his sidekick Bis (Reece Ritchie - keep an eye on this actor), and his evil uncle (Ben Kingsley) all contribute solid roles with quite a bit of philosophy about family ties and loyalty. The key to the story is the siege of a borderline rival kingdom ruled by the smart and sassy Rachel Weisz-type Tamina (Gemma Arterton) who guards the dagger that has the ability to manipulate time. Throw in a group of evil Hassasins (like that play on terms?) lead by Gísli Örn Garðarsson, some nearly unconquerable situations such as the world becoming a quicksand disaster, some wildly hilarious comedy (on the dark side) by tax evader Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina), and some changes that the time manipulating dagger can effect and the story spins to a conclusion. This viewer would be ready for a sequel, so entertaining is this diversion of a film, but the apparent box office failure of expectations make that an outside possibility.
Though it is always difficult to tell where a Director of Photography and the CGI engineers meet, John Seale does provide some gorgeous desert effects. The music by Henry Gregson- Williams is appropriate if forgettable. Coming away from the DVD experience leaves this viewer even more impressed with the spectrum of acting skills of Jake Gyllenhaal. And that is really enough. The script makes some strange errors - beginning the film with statements as to how Persia was a vast country that covered the entire Middle East, and then throwing in references in the dialogue to Iraq, Turkey and other countries that makes the research sound shaky at best. It is a great popcorn movie - if popcorn at home weren't such a dietary no-no.
Grady Harp