Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is certainly an odd hybrid, a video game adaptation reincarnated as a swords and sandals blockbuster with old Hollywood classicality. Helmed by one time Harry Potter director Mike Newell, it is an unabashed popcorn popping money machine, built to wow, and in multiple installments. Its soul is as dry as the sands that consume its settings, and yet its plasticity is not without charm, even when its buried in dialogue even the most talented actors can’t help you enjoy.
Star Jake Gyllenhaal is usually one of those actors, a Hollywood kid who grew into more depth then he was earlier given credit for. But as Dastan, the title prince in Persia, he’s beefed up and primed to play a wisecracking, rebellious action hero, leaving all subtlety and pathos at home, ready and waiting for more appropriate affairs. Here he’s more acrobat than actor, jumping over rooftops and flying into windows with swashbuckling charisma, stopping only occasionally to exchange screwball pleasantries with the biting beauty assigned to his heart.
