MyRating: YYYY1/2Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Steve Toussaint, Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle, Ronald Pickup, Gísli Örn Garðarsson
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer produced this great epic action adventure tale adapted from one of the most popular games in the history, Prince of Persia. The film is loosely based on the 2003 game version titled the same, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal) was adopted by King Sharaman (Pickup) to become the family member of the Persian Empire, when the king found him in the marketplace as a street child. The king was impressed with the child's brave character in saving another kid being beaten, and his unbelievable surviving skills, by running and jumping the rooftops while being chased by the soldiers. In the palace, with the love from the king's family, Dastan grew up to become a mighty warrior.
When the Persian attacts the peaceful city of Alamut, Dastan becomes the real hero with his solo opening attacts that help the Persians defeating Alamut. Then, together with his two brothers (the real sons of King Sharaman) Tus (Coyle) and Garsiv (Kebbell), and his uncle (brother of the king) Nizam (Kingsley), they enter the enemy castle and capture the beautiful princess of Alamut, Princess Tamina (Arterton). To unite the two nation and own her beauty, Tus is planning to marry the princess. And this news, together with their victory, soon become the great joys for the Persians.
However, someone in the kingdom want to get rid of Dastan. When he is falsely accused for a big crime that he did not do, Dastan has to run for his life and soon becomes the fugitive by his whole country. Together with Princess Tamina, who is also in the run with him, Dastan has to find a way to clear his name. He then learns that all the plot against him is somehow related to a dagger that he found in Alamut called the Dagger of Time. This beautiful knife, with an hour glass containing magic sands in its handle, can somehow reverse the time. And it is believed that more of the sands is buried below the city. If the sands is discovered and being used by the wrong person, it can cause the destroy of the earth.
But their journey is not easy, as Dastan and Tamina not only have to face the Persian soldiers, but they also have to encounter with Sheik Amar (Molina), a greedy sheikh who runs illegal ostrich races, and his men, including the knives thrower, Seso (Toussaint). They also have to face the most lethal enemy, the Hassansin, the Persian special force killers, led by a vicious leader (Garðarsson). They have to protect the dagger as well as to stay alive. And Dastan finds out that nobody he can really trust, including the persons he used to trust before.
Wow! This movie was one of the most exciting and entertaining action-adventure movies I have watched in years. Everything was just awesome. I will start by saying that the story was good enough to begin with, it has an intriguing storyline and interesting plots. And the casts were outstanding, they turned out to be perfect choices by the producer. The actions were fantastic and mind blowing. In fact, the whole film was full-packed with actions from the beginning till the end. And every action and fighting scene was well choregraphed. If the actions were over-the-top, then they were over-the-toply fun. The settings and the cinematography were also great and rich. The buildings, the streets and the town of Persia were beautifully built to give a total experience of being in Persia (now Iran).
This movie will also satisfy the game fans. I played the game myself in the past and loved it. The movie has almost everything the games have. Climbing walls, running the rooftops, jumping across buildings, acrobatic, somersault, slipping below the closing gates, swords fighting, etc. This is the best game movie ever. Period.
Now further about the casts. This film has wonderful casts for a new epic movie (I have this feeling NOT before I watched the film, BUT after watching it). Jake Gyllenhaal was just perfect as Dastan. He was cool. He was funny. He was very fit for all the actions and acrobatic stuffs (he did most of the dangerous stunts himself). And his acting was fun to watch. I might say that a new hero is born, Jake aka Dastan. This is the biggest role he ever got and I believe he will always be remembered as Dastan for years to come. And with this movie, Jake is now moving his career in a hot fast track train. As the love interest, Gemma Arterton was excellent as Princess Tamina (we last saw her in Clash of the Titans). Her acting was really-really good as the sassy, smart and one tough heroine. And she is such a beautiful and attractive actress! Her character even excited me the most, I really love her role in this movie. Her trick and being tricked games with Dastan was just fun to watch, and their love and hate relationship and dialogs will make you smile. They both have a great chemistry together. For Ben Kingsley, I don't have much to say, except that this senior actor was suited well as Nizam. And Alfred Molina contributed to the funny moments with his comedic performance as Sheik Amar.
Believe me, if you like action-adventure movies, then don't believe any bad critics that you read and heard about this movie. This is an awesome action-adventure movie at its best, and definitely not a movie to be missed. I enjoyed and cherished every moment of the film. Forget the flaws that this film has (every movie has its flaws) and just enjoy the fun! And I will be the first person who will be excited if they make a sequel. This is what I call a rock solid entertainment! (MJ)
