Last night, Me and Dana went to a midnight screening of Disney's "Prince of Persia", starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina, based on the hit video game series from Canadian-based Ubisoft. I played the video games in the past (I have not played the recent game that just came out) but I wouldn't say I was a die hard fan, more like a casual fan. First, both screens for the midnight showing were sold out, which is a good sign for the movie. The Age range was mostly a younger crowd, which are the ones that usually do the midnight showings in the first place, and there was a good amount of women in the audience (a good sign as well since Sex in the City 2 opened the day before). Here is my little review:
I enjoyed the film. It is the best adaption from a video game-to-movie, though there isn't a whole lot to work with from the past, but you do not have to be a gamer to enjoy this film. To me, it had a mixture of Indiana Jones-The Mummy-Arabian Nights-and Princess Bride in it. The storyline was pretty much explained in the trailer, and the CG was not all bad. The scenes where the jewel was pressed on the dagger to turn back time were pretty cool in my opinion, I don't think it was too "Matrix" like. There were several "game moves" he did throughout the film, but they were not used over the top, including Datsun running along the walls, jumping from rooftop-to-rooftop among others. I thought the effects were pretty cool, was not over the top, was done pretty well, and it had parts of the scenes where it had the Video Game Element in it but yet did not feel video gamish.
Jake Gyllenhaal was surprisingly good as Datsun, the Prince of Persia. There were even scenes where he made a joke or two, and sometimes the scenes between him and Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) had a little bit (but not a whole lot) of another Jerry Bruckheimer film series "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the scenes with Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann. By no means am I comparing Jake Gyllenhaal's performance to Johnny Depp's, but he was likable and fun as Datsun. Gemma Arterton is a jewel, she is a gorgeous woman that plays a character that does not take crap. She is not the typical ancient Persian woman who just sits back and listens to a man, she takes control of the situations she is in. Sir Ben Kingsley makes a good villian, Prince Nazim (Datsun's uncle) he is a very versatile actor who pretty much excels in the role that he is in. Alfred Molina brings the comedy relief in the film as Sheik Amar, who runs an underground Ostrich race and looked like he had a bit too much sun, but he does help out Datsun at a key part of the film. One character that was cool was Steve Toussaint, who played Seso, kind of Alfred Molina's right
hand man that is great with throwing knives. You may have seen him in the clip where he is in the dagger room facing off with a Hassanssin. Speaking of the Hassansins....
One part of the movie that made me think of another game were the characters known as the Hassansins. Most of the way they go by being discreet assassins reminded me of a current game franchise "Assassins Creed", a lot of it was very similar to that. It did not bother me at all, but it gave me a thought that an "Assassins Creed" movie would be a cool idea.
All in all, I think anyone of any age will enjoy this film. I think non-gamers and people who are not familiar with the game will simply enjoy this film. Remember, Jerry Bruckheimer took a Disney park theme ride and turned it into a multi-billion dollar franchise film. I am not saying "Prince of Persia" will reach "Pirates" status, but it is a very enjoyable summer movie. It has action, adventure, romance, it has all the elements. It is a film you can even take your children too.
I am not going to go any further because I do not want to reveal any spoilers in the film. Overall rating I give it a good 7.5 even maybe an 8 out of 10, I am not saying it is the best film of the year, but it is enjoyable. Do not go into this movie taking it too serious, it is not meant for that. Hopefully the success of this film will launch other games to the big screen, such as the previously mentioned "Assassins Creed" or even 'The Legend of Zelda"
If you have seen the film, put your thoughts down below in the comments. Don't really comment on it if you have NOT seen the film. If you have, please tell me what you liked about it, what did you not like, or if you think it is something you do want to see. Let me know. I am Clay Bransom, and this is my review.