Prince of Persia

Let's do some counting...how many good movies were made from video game adaptation? NONE...even titles such as Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat can only be considered as decent quality. Most of the time, these genres came up with bad and even terrible script, so-so production cost, lame actors, and last but not least, it just doesn't work somehow....remember Super Mario Bros, Wing Commander, Street Fighter, etc....Perhaps, maybe only Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children which i thought the best of them all, followed by the Resident Evil series (although they really should stop making it!). It brings us to the question, what does make Prince of Persia different from the others?

First of all, this is the first time that this genre has a big budget support for the production. The super mega producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, apparently did a gambling when he decided to put his money for funding this movie. Frankly, Prince of Persia : Sands of Time story line is good enough to be translated into big picture, and when I saw the production team behind it....I crossed my fingers that this might be the best adaptation ever. With big names attached such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Artenton, and even Alfred Molina, I may believe that this one could work.

Once upon a time in the Persian kingdom, a poor little boy from the slum, Dastan, made a good impression in front of the King Sharaman who happened to cross by a city of Nassaf, by running and jumping acrobatically across streets, roofs, and corridor, after he helped another kid being abused by soldiers. Afterwards, Dastan was adopted and became one the princes of the Persia. Fast forward several years, Dastan's grows up amongst royalties and quickly earns his place as mighty warrior and a prince. One day, his step brothers, Garvis and Tus plan to invade a holy city of Alamut, based on accusation that has been supplying weapons to enemies. Taking matter in his own hand, Dastan eventually helped the troops to overtake the city, accidentally retrieves a strange looking dagger, and encounters the beautiful Alamut princess, Tamina. The King was angry with the decision, but nevertheless, he promises to rule the city with generosity. All of sudden, the King dies under strange circumstances, and all evidence leads to Dastan as the murderer. Managed to escape with Tamina, he has to find a way to clear up his name. After a while, he learns many facts from Tamina why Alamut was invaded, and one of them is the dagger in his hand who holds a special power to control time. Together, they embark a journey to stop the evil mind's master plan to seize the ultimate power.

So, was this movie do any good? I must say...both YES and NO....

YES, it works, because it appears with sufficient amount of money, a video game adaptation can receive extra treatments in the art production department. The desert settings in this movie were rendered nicely, and cities, street markets, temple, and palaces, all were made with good production values. Even costumes and weaponry were nicely design, with details and authentic Persian style. The sword fighting scenes are nicely choreographed, and the acrobat jumping and running is kinda rip-off from 'parkour' style, but still entertaining though. Gyllenhaal made a good impression as Dastan, with his beefed up body and English accent, I have to say, he truly has that kind of charisma of action icon.

On the other hand, I can also say....NO, it doesn't work, because once again, the script was lousy and in some parts, the lines were so ridiculous, especially Tamina's part, they are incredibly unconvincing and flat. It appears they put Gemma Arterton just for eye catcher (no offense there, I still found she's also incredibly hot). The sword fighting scenes were cool enough for starters, but after so many numerous repetitions, the fighting scenes became dull. Lucky enough, the Hassasins jumped into the scenes with their unique, cool, but over the top weaponry, replacing swords.

Overall, Prince of Persia is no more than a video game rip-off with better cast and adequate entertainment value. Storyline was so-so, but the ending was quite satisfying. I must say, this maybe the best of all previous video game adaptations. But I can't help to compare this flick with Pirates of Caribbean, just without the eccentric Jack Sparrow. This shows that with enough budget and good cast, a video game translated into a big screen doesn't have to be disastrous. Now, bring it on MASS EFFECT or GOD OF WAR !

My Rating : 6.5/10