Saturday, June 12, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 44 - Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time


Today's movie was the big summer blockbuster Prince Of Persia; The Sands Of Time. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a Persian prince who comes in possession of a magic dagger, that when properly used can turn back time. The movie involves a plot to kill the king of Persia and steal his throne. The question is who  has hired the Haasassins to commit these deeds. The film also stars Ben Kingsley as the king's brother and Alfred Molina as a Sheik Amar a merchant and the head of a den of thieves.

The movie features many chases where Gyllenhaal uses freestyle running to escape his pursuers. But the film uses so much CGI to create super human athletic abilities that non of it seems real. At no time is there any sense of danger.  There is a scene when an entire underground structure is collapsing around him and there is just no excitement to it doesn't seem real. While watching i was reminded of the scene at the beginning of Raiders Of The Lost Ark when Indiana Jones out runs a big boulder. That ten minute scene had more excitement than this entire movie.

There is lots of convoluted dialog about the magic powers of the dagger, but it all seems contrived to fit the script. It's an empty, slightly entertaining summer popcorn movie. Not much too it, but what can you expect from a film based on a forgotten video game from 2003.

At The Movie House rating **stars.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You seem reluctant to give a movie its true rating because of either nostalgia or simply because it was a movie and therefore deserves at least two stars. Example, Judy Garlands' last movie stunk. To giv eit three stars because she sings nice is like saying a western was good because the cowboy kinew how to ride the horse...also, Prince of Persia stunk...period...Yet, after properly ripping it you gave it two stars, why?..because you got to got to the movies...For a picture to earn 4 stars it must at least approach greatness...for three stars it must be very good...two stars means it was decent and flawed...one star, it was stupid or stunk (most movies)

When are oyu goinhg to discuss the blindness you get when leaving the theater on a saturday afternoon?

Joe Fitzpatrick said...

anonymous poster....I mostly skip reading your posts because of all the typos. slow down your rants and check for spelling and spacing please.

Judy garland's last movie did not stink. It was a well made melodrama in which she gave an excellent performance above and beyond her singing. The problems lie in the script, not the actors or the production values.

Prince Of Persia is a fair movie. Fun, but forgettable. The audience it is aimed at will find it entertaining and again the production values are all in place.

The fact that you thinks most movies are stupid or stink tells me you should read books.

I have no clue about this blindness you talk about. I have always been a hip cool dude and never go anywhere without my sunglasses on a Saturday afternoon.