If Jerry Bruckheimer can turn a theme park ride into a billion dollar film franchise then it’s a walk in the park reconfiguring a video game into an action-adventure spectacle. In truth, Bruckheimer has been doing such things throughout his career. After all Top Gun started as an image in a magazine. From a variety of sources films can spring forth in this modern age.
The videogame adaptation brings many perils and an abysmal track record. It’s a fairly new genre compared to most and its failings could be down to its newness and filmmakers confusing the mediums. After all, the very best video games are positively cinematic, but it’s a one way street. You wouldn’t suggest a film is like the very best videogame. I’m not a gamer and I’ve never played Prince of Persia. Does this matter? Probably not. It means I can bring a modicum of objectivity, perhaps.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time benefits from assured direction and energy from director Mike Newell. He proved to Hollywood only a few years ago that he can deliver films on a grand canvas without the neurotic temperament of an auteur. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was dark, brooding and most of all: entertaining. In other words Newell is safe, inventive and delivers.
Clearly he saw potential in Prince of Persia as something other than a run-of-the-mill video game adaptation. It is a film with origins in a different medium that is respectful, but never worried or scared to do its own thing. While it doesn’t particularly offer anything truly original, Bruckheimer and Newell craft an enjoyable old-fashioned action-adventure that is only ever let down by being too safe and predictable in places.
When the first production stills were released last year showing a super-buff Jake Gyllenhaal, lots of people fell about laughing. After all, here was an actor who created two of the last decade’s most famous performances: Donnie Darko and Jack Twist. Prince Dastan as portrayed by Gyllenhaal looks like somebody on a calendar Twist might have stashed away for masturbatory purposes.
The most striking thing about Dastan is the accent. In a film dominated by British thesps – all with plummy cadences, Gyllenhaal plays the street urchin-turned-prince as if he was the son of a London cab driver. It’s an appalling stab at an English accent to rival Dick van Dyke’s mauling of ‘Cocker-nee’ in Mary Poppins. But through sheer force of personality and performance, Gyllenhaal/Dastan goes from laughable to very good. It’s a demanding physical role and he just about nails the attempt at redefining himself as action hero. Sometimes he tries too hard to go from comic to tough, but on the whole it’s a resounding success.
Gemma Arteton is something of an unknown quantity even now. She appeared very briefly in Quantum of Solace, but this actress is definitely going to have a big future. Princess Tamina more than matches, even makes fun of, Dastan’s macho posturing. Arteton, as presented here under the soft glow of the amber lighting scheme, has a quality that recalls writer Roland Barthes description of the ‘face-object’ and ideas of extreme beauty.
As for the other cast members; Ben Kingsley coasts it as the kindly uncle turned villain, Alfred Molina provides laughs with his Ostrich obsession and Toby Kebbell plays noble and heroic with a great amount of ham that would draw applause from the likes of Hopkins and McKellen. The dreaded hassassins with their magic powers, vipers and lethal weaponry are the coolest bad guys in a long time, too.
Indeed, Newell fills the screen with epic action sequences involving numerous swish-pans, CG backdrops, cheesy slow-motion and swooping crane shots creating energy and urgency. It rises to the occasion splendidly.
The magical realism of the conjured world allows for a palette of darkness and light. It’s a visual feast to look at and the special effects are first rate: especially the demonstration of the dagger and its time-rewinding effect. Indeed, it might have been so expensive to pull off because it’s used only three times!
The script does let itself down at times by attempting to cover all bases, but Prince of Persia is a great old-school romp with original creator Jordon Mechner having a close hand in the development/writing process. Could this provide a new franchise for Disney and Bruckheimer? That remains to be seen.
With great villains, set-pieces, exquisite cinematography and production design, Prince of Persia is surprisingly great fun. Arteton is a star in the making and Jake Gyllenhaal proves he’s more than a serious actor – he can play the Hollywood action hero too.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UK Release: 21st May
USA Release: 28th May
Australia Release: 27th May