Review of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) by Xgary X — 21 Feb 2012

A prince of ancient Persia discovers a mythical blade that can turn back time and uncovers a plot to usurp his father and claim the throne. Prince Of Persia is a Disney financed summer blockbuster that was clearly a somewhat cynical attempt to mimic the success of the POTC franchise but actually manages some success as an entertaining swords and sorcery adventure.

Jake Gillenhaal makes a surprisingly good swashbuckler and he and Gemma Arterton make for an attractive couple, Alfred Molina is an amusing comic sidekick and the format of a combat platform game lends itself to the current fashion for parkour style action very well.

The dialogue is unimaginative but serviceable and the likeable cast keep things fun and interesting for the duration. What prevents it from being a good film rather than a decent one is the choppy, ADHD editing that insists on breathlessly prodding the plot along without pause for tension, atmosphere or characterisation, as if the studio was worried that the cinema audience would all start changing channel if nothing was getting stabbed, flung through the air or blown up for more than 10 seconds at a time.

It's this lack of respect for the audience's intelligence or attention span that's the bane of modern cinema for me, and Prince Of Persia is another of its casualties. Reasonably good fun, but it could've been so much better.