Big Screen Blurb: Prince of Persia

You never really know what to expect when a video game hits the big screen. It’s usually the plot that fails as quickly as my three “lives” did in Super Mario Brothers. Prince of Persia, however, wins big with a solid story…good performances…effects…and plenty of action.


The story follows Prince Dastan. He’s not your typical “born on third base and thinks he hit a triple” prince. No, Dastan was a peasant who became a prince by winning the favor of the good King Sharaman. Dastan was 12 or so when he joined a family that already contained two sons. Not your typical drama here though, as all three brothers get along fine amidst some healthy and playful sibling rivalry. At any rate, the sons grow up and jointly win a big battle over an alleged enemy who has amassed weapons illegally. However, the weapons can’t be found and it appears the whole warring dilemma has been a mere set-up. Sounding familiar? No—don’t worry, former Prez G. Bush…this isn’t the Persian version of Green Zone. There’s more to the story. During the celebration, the good King is murdered and all swords point erroneously to Dastan. He flees and in the process discovers a magical dagger, which as it turns out is the key to the whole shabang. Dastan then teams, rather reluctantly, with Queen Tamina and yadayadayada, another Gameboy has found the big screen.

Admittedly, I had low expectations going into this flick. I like Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina is usually good for a hoot and a half, but I really was afraid that this story would lack the caliber that $20 justifies (yeah, $20…a boys gotta have his p-corn, right?). This one more than hit the mark. There was good story depth that included more than a magical weapon and potentially sappy love story that was billed in some critiques.

My only concern was the length of this movie. Too long. Thirty to forty minutes could have easily have been chucked, leaving a more than glowing movie experience. I would have chopped a lot of the gratuitous action sequences of the “wow…he barely survived that fall—again” variety.

All things considered, I give 3.5 stars and I will see the sequel, to boot.

Thanks for reading…

True