Prince of Persia: King of Its Genre
Video game movies have an established history of suck. In fact, whenever a new video game movie comes to theaters the question becomes less about how good a movie it will be, like with any other film, and more about if it’s going to be as bad as the others. This may seem unfair, but it isn’t entirely unjustified. If one were to look through the catalogue of video game movies, they’d find the bar of excellence has stopped with Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil.
So, now Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time comes to theaters based on a well-respected adventure game with exciting action stunts and acrobatics. For the first time, video game fans ask is it decent? The answer: yes.
Prince of Persia follows Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a young man who was adopted by a Persian king when he was a boy. All grown up, tragedy suddenly strikes when a gift instantly kills the king and Dastan is quickly blamed. Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), who was expected to marry Dastan’s eldest brother for the sake of political harmony between lands, takes Dastan by the hand for a swift getaway. Soon after, it becomes clear the king’s death may have been politically motivated and a magical dagger with the ability to turn back moments in time may be at the heart of the matter.
I must admit I am a fan of the video game, having played it to completion four years ago (one of the few video games I’ve beaten). The story of the game was much simpler, but no less cinematic, involving a sultan and his army being turned into sand monsters that, when defeated, gave the dagger its power. That the screenwriters, Boaz Yakin (Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights) and Doug Miro (The Uninvited), chose not to adapt that story and instead opted for a more complex narrative involving political intrigue and family loyalty is one of the film’s strengths. Let’s be clear: this is nothing on the level of Elizabeth or JFK, but it is a film complex enough that the dialogue is vital to following the story.
Keep that in mind while I take a moment to remind you of video game movies of the past. Let’s return to the best the genre had to offer: Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil. Each of these had rather straight-forward storylines where the main character(s) had a single goal – fight in a tournament to defeat evil in Mortal Kombat; obtain a MacGuffin and kill the bad guy in Tomb Raider; survive the zombies and defeat the evil computer in Resident Evil – and that was it. It was as though the assumption has always been by filmmakers that because they are based on video games, these movies must be written simply, often lacking any sense and it didn’t matter if the character-based stuff was thin or silly. Prince of Persia isn’t far removed from these films in terms of logic, but its story is far more complex and intriguing. That puts it above the others and raises the bar for the genre.
It’s important to clarify that this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is, after all, a fun adventure movie. Jake Gyllenhaal continues a streak of good performances, rising above the contrived plot point regarding his race (that set-up may be contrived, but it is the best executed contrivance of this kind). His performance sells the character and is part of what makes the movie as fun as it is.
As is still the case with video game movies, Prince of Persia has its flaws. It is silly at times and the dialogue is occasionally anachronistic (one could expect nothing more from a Bruckheimer production). But the movie’s biggest crime is in the action. One of the joys of the video game is being able to watch the main character run along walls, as well as flip over and slice bad guys with his sword in really cool ways. The audience is completely robbed of that joy in the movie because the shots are too tight and edited too quickly. There were times when I couldn’t appreciate an acrobatic stunt and other times when I couldn’t tell what happened. The fun and action should not be drained from a film that’s trying to be a fun action adventure!
There is also an issue that many brought up when the film was initially cast and even though it is ultimately minor, it does exist. The issue is that a story that takes place in ancient Persia stars a white man as the prince of Persia! Even his adopted family consists of three white men. One would think that after sixty years we’d be beyond the days of Charlie Chan, The Thief of Baghdad, or The Good Earth, movies where white men masqueraded as minorities. Unfortunately, for reasons of its own creation, Hollywood still fears that an Asian or Middle Eastern lead means box office poison. And this is still true with rare exceptions. Ask yourself honestly, would you be interested in a movie like Prince of Persia if it didn’t star a recognizable white face? One may be able to point to Slumdog Millionaire as a hit to contradict this, but few other examples. It remains to be seen how well The Last Airbender will perform, however all the Asian leads are reported to have been co-opted once again by whites. The only reason Asians in lead roles is a financial issue at this point is Hollywood continues to make it one. And even Hollywood’s most subtle fears about race (or even gender) have an effect on the public consciousness. In other words, if Hollywood would’ve featured a number of Asian or Middle Eastern-lead movies years ago, audiences would’ve been inundated with racially diverse heroes and thus this wouldn’t still be an issue.
Hollywood also continues to this day to confuse races and cultures. In the upcoming so-called The Karate Kid remake, the main character moves to China. Jackie Chan mentions twice in the trailer that he is teaching kung fu, a completely different martial art than karate, which originates in Japan. Yet the movie ignores this and is still named The Karate Kid. Culture confusion exists in Prince of Persia, albeit to a much milder extent. Ostrich racing is featured in the movie for a few minutes, an activity that my research indicates is mostly exclusive to Africa until modern times; Persia existed north of Egypt and to the west of India. However, this ends up only representing one of the sillier moments in Prince of Persia and isn’t something that altogether breaks the movie.
Unlike movies like The Mummy, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time goes along briskly without rushing the story to the next action beat. It has its flaws and fails in the execution of some of its action scenes. But its complicated story about political ambitions and family loyalty is on a slightly higher level of intelligence than other video game movies. Plus, Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance, despite being racially peculiar, only helps the movie. In a summer where kids’ choices are limited to the likes of Shrek Forever After and Marmaduke, they could do a lot worse than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is a fun movie with some intelligence. It also happens to be the new king of video game movies.
6/10
Should you see it? Buy Tickets
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is out now in theaters
So, now Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time comes to theaters based on a well-respected adventure game with exciting action stunts and acrobatics. For the first time, video game fans ask is it decent? The answer: yes.
Prince of Persia follows Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a young man who was adopted by a Persian king when he was a boy. All grown up, tragedy suddenly strikes when a gift instantly kills the king and Dastan is quickly blamed. Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), who was expected to marry Dastan’s eldest brother for the sake of political harmony between lands, takes Dastan by the hand for a swift getaway. Soon after, it becomes clear the king’s death may have been politically motivated and a magical dagger with the ability to turn back moments in time may be at the heart of the matter.
I must admit I am a fan of the video game, having played it to completion four years ago (one of the few video games I’ve beaten). The story of the game was much simpler, but no less cinematic, involving a sultan and his army being turned into sand monsters that, when defeated, gave the dagger its power. That the screenwriters, Boaz Yakin (Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights) and Doug Miro (The Uninvited), chose not to adapt that story and instead opted for a more complex narrative involving political intrigue and family loyalty is one of the film’s strengths. Let’s be clear: this is nothing on the level of Elizabeth or JFK, but it is a film complex enough that the dialogue is vital to following the story.
Keep that in mind while I take a moment to remind you of video game movies of the past. Let’s return to the best the genre had to offer: Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil. Each of these had rather straight-forward storylines where the main character(s) had a single goal – fight in a tournament to defeat evil in Mortal Kombat; obtain a MacGuffin and kill the bad guy in Tomb Raider; survive the zombies and defeat the evil computer in Resident Evil – and that was it. It was as though the assumption has always been by filmmakers that because they are based on video games, these movies must be written simply, often lacking any sense and it didn’t matter if the character-based stuff was thin or silly. Prince of Persia isn’t far removed from these films in terms of logic, but its story is far more complex and intriguing. That puts it above the others and raises the bar for the genre.
It’s important to clarify that this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is, after all, a fun adventure movie. Jake Gyllenhaal continues a streak of good performances, rising above the contrived plot point regarding his race (that set-up may be contrived, but it is the best executed contrivance of this kind). His performance sells the character and is part of what makes the movie as fun as it is.
As is still the case with video game movies, Prince of Persia has its flaws. It is silly at times and the dialogue is occasionally anachronistic (one could expect nothing more from a Bruckheimer production). But the movie’s biggest crime is in the action. One of the joys of the video game is being able to watch the main character run along walls, as well as flip over and slice bad guys with his sword in really cool ways. The audience is completely robbed of that joy in the movie because the shots are too tight and edited too quickly. There were times when I couldn’t appreciate an acrobatic stunt and other times when I couldn’t tell what happened. The fun and action should not be drained from a film that’s trying to be a fun action adventure!
There is also an issue that many brought up when the film was initially cast and even though it is ultimately minor, it does exist. The issue is that a story that takes place in ancient Persia stars a white man as the prince of Persia! Even his adopted family consists of three white men. One would think that after sixty years we’d be beyond the days of Charlie Chan, The Thief of Baghdad, or The Good Earth, movies where white men masqueraded as minorities. Unfortunately, for reasons of its own creation, Hollywood still fears that an Asian or Middle Eastern lead means box office poison. And this is still true with rare exceptions. Ask yourself honestly, would you be interested in a movie like Prince of Persia if it didn’t star a recognizable white face? One may be able to point to Slumdog Millionaire as a hit to contradict this, but few other examples. It remains to be seen how well The Last Airbender will perform, however all the Asian leads are reported to have been co-opted once again by whites. The only reason Asians in lead roles is a financial issue at this point is Hollywood continues to make it one. And even Hollywood’s most subtle fears about race (or even gender) have an effect on the public consciousness. In other words, if Hollywood would’ve featured a number of Asian or Middle Eastern-lead movies years ago, audiences would’ve been inundated with racially diverse heroes and thus this wouldn’t still be an issue.
Hollywood also continues to this day to confuse races and cultures. In the upcoming so-called The Karate Kid remake, the main character moves to China. Jackie Chan mentions twice in the trailer that he is teaching kung fu, a completely different martial art than karate, which originates in Japan. Yet the movie ignores this and is still named The Karate Kid. Culture confusion exists in Prince of Persia, albeit to a much milder extent. Ostrich racing is featured in the movie for a few minutes, an activity that my research indicates is mostly exclusive to Africa until modern times; Persia existed north of Egypt and to the west of India. However, this ends up only representing one of the sillier moments in Prince of Persia and isn’t something that altogether breaks the movie.
Unlike movies like The Mummy, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time goes along briskly without rushing the story to the next action beat. It has its flaws and fails in the execution of some of its action scenes. But its complicated story about political ambitions and family loyalty is on a slightly higher level of intelligence than other video game movies. Plus, Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance, despite being racially peculiar, only helps the movie. In a summer where kids’ choices are limited to the likes of Shrek Forever After and Marmaduke, they could do a lot worse than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is a fun movie with some intelligence. It also happens to be the new king of video game movies.
6/10
Should you see it? Buy Tickets
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is out now in theaters