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Lunch » Tags » Movies » Reviews » Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) » User review

They sure had some nice dentists back in Persia

  • Nov 24, 2010
Exclusive to the Lunch Network
Rating:
+1
Prince of Persia could be the start of another genre series of high action, special effect laden romps in the some vein as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean films.  You got old tales of yore, colorful supporting casts, hissable villains and attractive leads in the heroes.  You also got some light entertainment that isn't too demanding of a story to entertain you, maybe it's too light.

A young boy names Datsun is taken in one day by the King of Persia to be raised as a prince.  Dastan played when he's grown up by Jake Gyllenhaal goes with his brother to invade a Holy City on the rumor of weapons being built there to be used against the Persian army.  Dastan uses some intuition and creativity to help storm the castle and capture the Princess Tamina who has possession of a powerful time changing dagger, feuled by the sands of time and in the wrong hands it could spell the end of the world.  Dastan learns why the Holy city was invaded now and to find who has double crossed him and pursued by Persia's armies.

On paper it isn't that bad.  The special effects don't totally dominate for the couple of times the "time travel" effect is used.  The characters are memorable and the action comes at nice intervals for entertainment.  What makes it bad is that it's....average.  Characters do plenty of "out of character" moments concerning they're motivations and some are PAINFULLY transparent, enough that I didn't mind spoiling something in my Quick Tip.  Some of the action, especially concerning a secret assassin army is the usual stylized junk that invades plenty of other movies like "cool weapons" and all black costumes.  Other problems like characters you think being dead but aren't for plot convenience or the usual round of 20 guys chase 1 and 1 still wins.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time isn't terrible and I've sat through worse but inspite of a lot of pieces in place to make a new series of movies with, this first one still felt like a misfire.  If they can get the same cast and polish up some of the issues then I'd be game to take a trip back to Persia and if not, I hear something new is on the horizon in the Caribbean.
They sure had some nice dentists back in Persia

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December 16, 2010
This was ok
 
November 24, 2010
This was entertaining albeit for the wrong reasons, but entertaining nonetheless. Princess Tamina is worth the price a ticket. LOL! Nice review, John!
November 24, 2010
I'm still surprised that she was that pale little Strawberry Fields girl from Quantum of Solace.
 
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More Prince of Persia: The Sands of... reviews
review by . January 03, 2011
posted in Movie Hype
*1/2 out of ****      Disney needs to realize two things. One of those things is that they haven't came out with a good swashbuckling actioner since the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy gave up the gun. The other thing they need to realize is that in 2010, the "Clash of the Titans" remake released, rendering the existence of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" nearly useless. I'm guessing you know what I mean by all of that: "Clash …
review by . January 22, 2011
We all know the history of videogame-to-movie adaptations, especially those made by the infamous Uwe Boll. Pretty much every single one of them has sucked, except this one. Prince of Persia is definitely the best videogame movie ever made, but that's not saying much, so I tend not to judge it as a videogame movie but instead as a popcorn movie. It definitely succeeded in what it was meant to do also because the few people that were in the theatre looked happy.      In terms …
review by . May 29, 2010
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Action-Adventure In the Sands of CGI Eye Candy!
   Video game to film adaptations. We all know such efforts are always found wanting and video games are hardly ever given the respect they deserve. So why do we still always have high expectations for films that are based on video games? I think it is because of the hope that we may see our favorite video game characters come to life in a credible motion picture. Well, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his “Pirates of the Caribbean” crew have recruited director Mike Newell to …
review by . May 29, 2010
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Nizam, Dastan & Tamina,
Let me be honest. The only real reason I wanted to see Prince of Persia was to see Gemma Arterton in a role with more screen time than her character “Io” in this year’s Clash of the Titans. To my surprise, PoP: The Sands of Time actually had some depth to it… something I wasn’t expecting going into the movie. It should be mentioned that Persia had quite the uphill battle considering its roots in the videogame genre. Historically, videogame movies haven’t exactly …
review by . June 01, 2010
posted in Friends and Fans of Fantasy
Long ago in the mystical land of Persia there is a story told of a man, a man who is said to be destined to be a hero, a man would save his kingdom from an evil underhanded force that threatens to undone all that is good. This man is destined to become royalty but he is not born of royal blood this man is destined to become a hero. A hero known as The Prince of Persia "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" is a visually stunning and grand special effects extravaganza  that  is …
Quick Tip by . November 24, 2010
Far out fantasy in the Middle East where a Prince and Princess keep an artifact out of hands of the evil that is Ben Kingsley. Decent enough and I've sat through worse.
Quick Tip by . December 04, 2010
A film celebrating Persians but played by actors all with British accents? Don't look for ANY historical accuracy here!
Quick Tip by . November 02, 2010
posted in Movie Hype
its got nothing on the game but hey i liked it anyway. the only bad thing about it is it reminds me a little to much of the pirates movies and the national treasure films...but the CGI omg! worth the watch.
Quick Tip by . September 28, 2010
posted in Friends and Fans of Fantasy
Again a video game-inspired film proves to be entirely predictable and wholly unsatisfying as a piece of storytelling. This being a Jerry Bruckheimer production, I knew that style would overtake substance, but still I hoped that there would be some form of characterization here. Alas, not so much. The plot is mess and fails to explain itself at times while at other times it allows for the characters to make logical jumps that are ludicrous. There are plotholes big enough for an ostrich and a camel …
review by . October 31, 2010
posted in Movie Hype
I'd love a historical epic set in ancient Persia. Unfortunately, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is just the latest Hollywoodized action nonsense aimed at teenagers. Far from being epic, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton come across as a bunch of flirty teens, not as a prince and princess. The action scenes are way overdone, with Gyllenhaal's character pulling off some impossible moves. In between the action, there's almost no character development. Perhaps worst of all, even though ancient …
see all Prince of Persia: The Sands of... reviews (17)
About the reviewer
John Nelson ()
Ranked #9
Born in Wausau Wisconsin. Move at an early age to Ventura California and lived for 8 years. Growing up in a big city landscape didn't prepare me for my next move: Archbold Ohio with a population of … more
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About this movie

Wiki

Set in medieval Persia, the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time.
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Tags

Movies, Action Movies, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction Movies, Fantasy, Fantasy Films, Adventure Movies, Hype, Video Game To Movies
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Details

Director: Mike Newell
Genre: Action, Adventure
Release Date: May 28th, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG-13
DVD Release Date: September 14, 2010
Runtime: 116 minutes
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films
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"Action-Adventure In the Sands of CGI Eye Candy!"
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