Prince of Persia – Review
by john on May.31, 2010, under Reviews
The definition of insanity is expecting different results from the same action. Hollywood is clearly insane since they keep churning out movies based on video games, hoping for a hit. Yeah, that’s a weak joke, so you want better evidence? Ridley Scott is making a movie about Monopoly. Yeah, the board game. I rest my case, Your Honor.
Video games aren’t known for their stories. If you listen to the mainstream media, games are horribly violent endeavors that reward you for killing hookers and puppies or having lots of alien sex. Story arcs are non-existent.
None of this is true, of course, so when I first heard Prince of Persia was headed to the big screen, I thought it made a lot of sense. If you don’t know, the story is about this magic dagger that has a magical button on it. Pushing the button releases magic sand that magically sends you back in time one minute (Persia’s a place of Magic and Mystery). This concept worked great for a game. Miss that jump? No problem. Just use that dagger and try again. The idea could just as easily work in a movie, and it did. The dagger scenes were visually satisfying, well thought-out sequences. The kind you hope to see in an action-adventure movie.
Unfortunately, those scenes were all I enjoyed. The plot got a little predictable, but that wasn’t the problem (Though surprisingly, the game’s plot was far better). No, my biggest problem was with the humor. There’s an ostrich scene in the middle that didn’t come close the tone of the story. Everything starts out with an Indiana Jones kind of feel, but shifts into a campy, “Hey, we’re making a movie about a video game!!” vibe. The jokes were forced and took me completely out of the story. I never got back in.
I’ve heard Bruckheimer and Co. are hoping this franchise can take the torch from The Pirates of the Caribbean. With Jake Gyllenhaal as the only big name and a weak first chapter, I’m not sure it’s got the legs. But hey, they made a sequel to Tomb Raider, so maybe the asylum will spit out another. Guess we’ll find out after Monopoly.
Grade: C
