DVD review: Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time

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PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME

DIRECTOR: MIKE NEWELL

STARS: JAKE GYLLENHAAL, GEMMA ARTERTON, BEN KINGSLEY, ALFRED MOLINA

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENT.

FILMS based on videogames tend to be diabolically bad—Street Fighter, House of the Dead, Wing Commander, BloodRayne… Thankfully, Prince of Persia is one of the rare exceptions. It’s not The Lord of the Rings, but it’s a decent action adventure that remains true to its platform-gaming roots—which is to say there’s plenty of running, jumping and hitting things in a pseudo-historical Arabian setting. It helps to have a competent director at the helm and Mike Newell has experience with both magical mumbo-jumbo and desert locales, having previously made Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire plus a bunch of Young Indiana Jones episodes.

The suitably ancient plot sees the Persian king murdered and his adopted son, Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal), blamed for the deed. The prince goes on the run in an attempt to clear his name, reluctantly joined by political pawn Princess Tamina (Arterton). Initially, she can’t stand the sight of him, so you know where that’s gonna lead. As for why someone would commit regicide, could it have anything to do with Dastan’s sneaky Uncle Nizam (Kingsley) or the strange dagger that it’s Tamina’s duty to protect? Of course it could, but this movie is less about the destination than the scenery and colourful characters encountered along the way, such as the ostrich-racing Sheik Amar (Molina) or the mystical killers known as the Hassansins.

For a Disney release, you may be disappointed to learn that the DVD of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time contains but a single extra—a making-of documentary. (The Blu-ray version is only slightly better, adding a deleted scene.) That said, if you missed this one at the cinema, are in the mood for non-taxing derring-do with a big budget and a quality cast, or you’re a fan of the videogame series on which it’s based, then there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours. Super Mario Bros., Alone in the Dark, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within…