[UNCOMFORTABLE PLOT SUMMARY (inspired by this): [highlight for spoilers]→ A bunch of stuff almost happens.
PEOPLE: From the director of Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan (Donnie Darko in Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, Rendition, City Slickers). Gemma Arterton as the Princess (Io in Clash Of The Titans, Kelly Jones in the St. Trinian’s remakes, Desiree in The Boat That Rocked). Ben Kingsley as Uncle Nazam (Schindler’s List, The Wackness). With Alfred Molina as the ostrich-racing shiek (Dr. Otto Octavius in the new Spider-Man movies, Solomon Solomon in Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Chocolat, Dead Man, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Ladyhawke).
QUIRKS: Based on the 1989 video game, Prince Of Persia. Except then Disney bought it and made them base it on the later Prince Of Persia:Sands Of Time video game sequels instead.
Basically, an action adventure with slight elements of fantasy — just enough to drive the plot.
VISUALS: Persian deserts. Fights. And some cool time manipulation that wasn’t used enough (2 minutes of time reversal total throughout the movie).
MORALS: Being royalty sucks.
POLITICS: Royalty sucks.
GOOD STUFF: A decent adventure movie, and, at 2 hours in length, drawn out enough to build the story decently.
BAD STUFF: The time stuff was cool, but they didn’t really use it much (or enough)…
Of course, being an adventure movie based on a video game, the story isn’t really unique — but it’s well executed.
A lot of people hated this, though. Seems to happen with any adaptation/remake (or any movie at all, really–I don’t know why haters keep watching movies. Go find a new hobby if you don’t like most movies you watch. I stopped listening to the radio because I don’t like most songs I hear there. Is that so hard?)
Oh, and fucking idiots who think that the dagger represents oil. No, it represents the dagger in the video game. It was a puzzle game about mystical times. There was no political message. And no, the Hashashins aren’t about Al Queda. They are about assassins; Hashashins are how we got the words “assassin” and “hashish”. Learn some fucking history: Both video game history, and etymologies of words.
CONCLUSION: Pretty good action/adventure / royal conflict with slight fantasy elements. Certainly better than your average movie based on a video game.
RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 4/5 stars. IMDB: 8/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3.6/5 stars. IMDB: 7.6/10. (A more reluctant version of the same rating as Clint.)
The native public rating for this movie is: IMDB: 6.8/10, Netflix: 3.9/5 stars (Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 3.7/5 stars).
RECOMMENDATION: If you like desert adventure, check it out.
SIMILAR MOVIES: I dunno. The Mummy?
MOVIE QUOTE: King Sharaman: A great man who would have stopped what he knew to be wrong, no matter who was ordering it.
Mood: fuzzy
Music: Anthrax – Madhouse
Claire's blog 
November 12, 2011 at 7:02 AM
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November 15, 2011 at 7:02 AM
[…] — see COMEDY, but since he thought he was a Superhero, I also consider it Superhero genre Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time – I maybe should have filed this under fantasy? Way better than I […]