Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

Having already successfully brought a theme park attraction to theaters with the "Curse of the Caribbean" movies, star producer Jerry Bruckheimer is now trying his hand at a video game adaptation with "Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time". With the help of Jordan Mechner, the creator of the game, and Mike Newell, director of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the audience should be offered a spectacular action adventure, which in the best case should be the starting signal for a new successful film franchise. Whether this actually succeeds can be doubted for several reasons.

The plot, which is loosely composed of set pieces from the games, is kept as simple as possible: Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), once a simple orphan boy taken in as a son by the king of the Persian Empire, successfully helps his two brothers take the city of Alamut. Supposedly, weapons are to be supplied from here to the king's enemies. But apart from a noble-looking dagger, which Dastan takes after the conquest, no weapons are to be found in the city. When the king is killed shortly thereafter and Dastan is suspected of murder through intrigue, the young fighter must flee. Tamina (Gemma Arterton), the princess of Alamut, does not leave his side. For what Dastan does not yet know: the dagger that has recently come into his possession, thanks to the Sands of Time, has magical powers that allow its owner to influence time. And getting his greedy hands on this dagger and the stash of magical sands believed to be under Alamut is the sole goal of the as-yet-unknown mastermind behind the plot against Dastan. He must now survive any number of dangers with Tamina to prevent this from happening and prove his innocence at the same time...

"Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time" has a number of positive factors on its side: the film has a high level of spectacle value, thanks to the magnificent sets and lavish decor. Also the action scenes, which were conceived close to the play template, are worth seeing. In addition, there is the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal, who actually specializes in character acting, is quite convincing as an action hero in a popcorn blockbuster. So inclined viewers can rely on being well entertained.

But the film also has some clear weak points and just no Johnny Depp alias Jack Sparrow to console them away. For example, the plot is a bit too flat even for the intended rather young target audience, and the dialogue is occasionally unintentionally comical. On the other hand, the moments that are supposed to be funny seem a little too forced. Without the charm of Jake Gyllenhaal and without the good supporting actors like Alfred Molina or Richard Coyle (among others known from the British comedy series "Coupling") these criticisms would weigh even more heavily.

"Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time" is a good game adaptation and a decent adventure film that offers just under two hours of good entertainment without any depth. However, since the film has no cult potential whatsoever and the characters, unlike that of "Curse of the Caribbean", are quickly forgotten, it seems rather doubtful that the Persian prince will have a similar success as the pirates from the Caribbean. Nevertheless: well worth seeing for fans of great adventure cinema!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp