Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Review

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Ever since the nineties, Hollywood has tried many times to make a good video game adaptation. The main problem was that no one really understood the source material for any of these adaptations, at least, until now. Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time, based on the highly popular video game of the same name, is the first one to really work. While it may have its flaws, Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time has set a standard for how these films are made properly.

The first big difference in this VGF (video game film) is the fact that the people making the film treated it like a book adaptation. Certain things need to be changed for film. This is where others in the genre have fallen short. Bloodrayne, Mortal Kombat, Hitman, they didn’t understand that not everything is meant for the big screen. Imagine how different Tomb Raider would have been if they didn’t try to hold so true to the game.

It also helps that the game maker actually had some say in the film. Game creator Jordan Mechner crafted the story for the film, saying “rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new video game, we’re taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story.” That is what these adaptations needed.

Not to mention the fact that there is actual talent not only in front of the camera (Tomb Raider) but finally there is also talent behind it. Jerry Bruckheimer brings his grand scale, decision maker attitude to this project. Whenever his name is attached to anything, you know it’s going to be epic. Then there is director Mike Newell. Newell is an extremely talented film maker whose credits include Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. These two forces finally bring a type of movie making the video game adaptation just hasn’t seen.

Now that we got all the paper work out of the way, let’s take a look at the story. Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time follows the journey of Prince Dastan who, after invading an “enemy” city, finds a dagger. He soon discovers, thanks to Princess Tamina, that the dagger has the ability to turn back time with the sand that is locked inside it. Now, while there are certain scenes pulled directly from the game, these sections are few and far between. 95% of the film is original. It remains grounded in the rule of film making. It never tries to go over-the-top and because of that, it remains believable in the realm of fantasy.

Perhaps its biggest flaw is the actors themselves. Not in the characters they play, but rather the way they play them. Unfortunately, they all sound under rehearsed. None of the lines they say sound interesting, they all just sound like robots. It’s a bit of a shame because the lines themselves are very well written.

But that is probably the only problem with the film. The action scenes are wonderfully choreographed and, this film rivals District B-13 for the best use of parkour on film. The same goes for the films art direction. The sets are absolutely beautiful, and the vastness of the desert is extraordinary. This film is the definition of summer epic.

Overall, Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time works, and works well. Despite the spotty dialogue, the film manages to keep the audience interested the entire time. You want to follow Dasdan on his journey, from start to finish. Here’s hoping that Disney decides to follow through with the other two games in the trilogy because, they have found their next Pirates.

7.5/10