I have a soft spot for adventure films. Perhaps it’s something born out of my undying devotion towards Raiders of the Lost Ark. Or perhaps I’m fond of the genre.
Whatever the reason, I’ve noticed that I’m more lenient of such films, and I wholeheartedly embrace them, warts and all.
National Treasure? I’m a fan. Treasure Planet? Massive fan. John Carter? Fan. Pirates of the Caribbean? I mildly enjoyed even the ‘bad’ entries.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is another such movie. It was a critical misfire and wasn’t as profitable as the producers expected it to be, but it’s a film I quite enjoyed.
Was it a masterpiece? Of course not. Was it a ‘bad’ film? That’s debatable. I would argue that it was flawed in certain places.
But it starred Jake Gyllenhaal, who is one of my favourite working actors and has been for a while.
Granted that Jake G is as far away from being the Prince of ‘Persia,’ as one could imagine, but like all great actors, he’s always attuned to the kind of film he’s in and inflects his performance and pitch accordingly.
As Dastan, Jake is fun, charming and just the appropriate amount of roguish. But I would pay money to watch Gyllenhaal read the phonebook, so I might be slightly biased.
The film itself isn’t path-breaking in any way. But much like National Treasure and Treasure Planet, it adheres to one of the central tenets of adventure films – it’s fast and it’s fun.
And ultimately, that’s what I enjoy about films of this genre.
Prince of Persia has moments of humour, some well-executed set-pieces, some striking visuals, serviceable chemistry between Jake G and the ethereal Gemma Arterton, and most importantly, it has momentum.
And when a film has momentum, the flaws are easier to forgive. Besides, you’ve got Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina playing to the gallery. What’s not to like?
Further, this was 2010. At this point, video-game adaptations were essentially cursed. In that climate, Prince of Persia’s charms were multiplied.
And really, when you consider how quickly things can go south for these kinds of video game adaptations, the ill-fated Assassin’s Creed being a primary example, Prince of Persia emerges as a one-eyed king in the kingdom of the blind.
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