'Prince of Persia: Sands of Time'

'Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (PG-13) (2 stars)

Writers: Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard
Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley

"Prince of Persia", to me, is better than it should be for I am not a very big fan of the later adventure films like the terrible "Mummy" movies. Nowadays there has not been much that has impressed me with these modern day fantasy adventures. I had more of a response to the awesome "Tron Legacy" trailer than I did to this whole movie. Once you seen "Raiders of the Lost Ark" it is going to take more than just a goofy swashbuckler to impress me. Let's go with more recent movies and you can see that the bar has been raised. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, though over rated, have set the bar high. "Prince of Persia" is not a bad movie and it actually was better than I expected. Even with a miscast Gyllenhaal, a beautiful but empty Gemma Arterton and a time travel subplot that doesn't make sense this has it's moments. The movie is based on a video game series and that is why this movie may be too complicated for it's own good. I think it takes a few days to play the video game and this movie is too over stuffed for two hours. The plot is even too screwy to explain except that there is a prince, a princess and maybe two or three bad guys. I am impressed that Jake Gyllenhaal has put on some muscle but he doesn't belong in this movie. He is supposed to be of Arab descent but just looks like an American with a tan. He is more suited to dramas and maybe a cop movie or romantic comedy but a swashbuckler? The movie is owned by the beautiful scenery and locations and Alfred Molina's performance. The action is sometimes impressive but why do action adventures these days place the action in close ups? I can't follow the action when the camera is tight on the combatants. The director Mike Newell is not equipped for this movie. Even though he directed a Harry Potter movie, the director of "Four Weddings and a Funeral seems to be a smaller movie scale director. "Prince of Persia" is an agreeable time waster but totally forgettable.