Poor Jake, stuck in a horrid movie...

Rating: 5/10 (23 August 2011)

Gemma Arteton as the princess Tamina killed the movie, in a horrible way. Every young British actress today feels like she has to shape her acting ability around the acting styles of Kate Winslet, Catherine Zeta Jones and/or Rachel Weisz. Be yourselves people!!!! I cannot stress that enough. I couldn't even buy this girl as the princess because she just looked like she was doing a confused job at aping Rachel Weisz from the Mummy movies, Kate Winslet's Rose Dewitt Bukater with a hint of Catherine Zeta Jones from the Mask of Zorro. It didn't help that the hair and makeup people seemed to share Arteton's dream of wanting to resemble CZJ. That said, I thought Jake Gyllenhaal did a fantastic job as the agile prince Dastan and his British accent was so spot on that I was beginning to think they'd dubbed it. Fortunately enough for Gyllenhaal, he has such good looks that when shown against Arteton, their chemistry just bounces of the screen and adds to their rapport. Alfred Molina is amazing as cunning Sheik Amar as is Sir Ben Kingsley in his villainous uncle Nizam role. I appreciated the nod to the video game from which the film was inspired, especially with the action sequences and scenic adventures. All in all the film is watchable (a one time watch for me because I do not think I could stomache Arteton a second time around) but there have been better films. See 'The Mummy' or even 'The Time Machine' instead.