Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

     If there was one review that I whole-heartedly agree with, it would be Manohla Dargis' Before the Sword Fights, Cue the Harem Girls. The film, directed by Mike Newell in his second film since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), is a "high concept" video game with money behind it. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the film, has a clear hand in everything from content to form. The characters, the comedy, and the action all feel like a failing attempt at Pirates of the Caribbean (Gore Verbinski, 2003, 2006, 2007).

     Unfortunately, as Dargis points out, the film takes a political stance against America's current involvement with Iraq, using weapons (of mass destruction?) as an excuse to attack an otherwise innocent city. The weapons are, of course, never found, and a deeper plot is exploited throughout the run of the film. Continuing on the same line, Alfred Molina's character begins complaining about taxation and the bad effect it has on small businesses. Reallly, the film could have done without any of it. (but what would have been left, then?)
     Generally, the film's strengths lie in the visuals (John Seale) and the music (by Harry Gregson-Williams) which generally hold one's attention. The action sequences are fairly well-pulled off, and Dastan's (Jake Gyllenhaal) acrobatics, in a very video-game-like way, are enough to leave one dizzy, but entertained. But despite his ability to pull off these moves, Gyllenhaal fails to impress with his acting skills, especially with his "British" accent. The other actors are equally as bland, Ben Kingsly seemingly type-cast as the same character in every movie, and Molina giving an intriguing, if not so unique, character to laugh at.
     Overall, there's not much here. Just another film pumped out from Hollywood to entertain (or at least to attempt to).