Review

Review Date: 30-May-10
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Though not a gamer, I can see why people might enjoy escaping into the world of Prince of Persia if the movie based on the video game is any indication of its appeal. The Sands of Time is chock full of arresting action, costumes, and backdrops which make roof hopping, empire building, and even ostrich racing look like fun. Jake Gyllenhaal, acquiring a hero's smolder and six-pack abs in an attempt to make it big, looks great as the titular prince, and so does Gemma Arterton as his love interest, a dignified princess. Starting out in a jewel of a city from a fanciful past, they spend two hours being chased by assassins while trying to protect a magical dagger and clear the prince's name of the murder of his beloved, adoptive father. In addition to caparisoned horses and Ben Kingsley in evil eye liner, this involves nifty stunts in which the prince uses skills acquired during a childhood on the streets to scale walls and best his foes in battle. Their flight of fancy also includes a comic tax evader (Alfred Molina), a noble African warrior (Steve Toussaint), brotherly love and bickering, and, if I am not mistaken, a jab at George W. Bush's use of fabricated WMDs to obscure a personal agenda behind an invasion.

Considering the movie's spectacle I might be tempted to give it a higher rating, yet the attention paid to the visuals is notably absent in the editing. Most action flicks are as cartoony as this, story-wise, but the way Prince of Persia is put together sinks beneath low standards; at times you feel like a scene needed for continuity was left on the cutting floor. Would it really be detrimental to the bottom line to make a popcorn movie that flows smoothly? When I contemplate such things I start to get angry, envisioning conversations like this:

Editor: There are choppy sections in Act 2 that need some work.

Smug Studio Exec: Pah! The dopes will be so jacked on overpriced soda by then that they won't even notice. Besides, you know how John Q. Public laps up whatever we feed him as long as it's loud and the image changes every 4 seconds.

I cannot let this pass with a "Juicy" rating even if I made up this conversation. Prince of Persia entertains to a degree but leaves something to be desired which I suspect its creators insultingly withheld.

Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.