This Mike Newell film revolves around a royal family of Persia. Three brothers attack a sacred ground after discovering weapons smuggled into the holy land. Fearing an attack they strike first and try to catch the kingdom by surprise. Led by Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who wasn’t supposed to be a part of the attack, he breaks into the kingdom to help over take it quickly. What they find is a kingdom led by a woman named Tamina (Gemma Arterton) and who denies any wrongdoing. Celebrating victory, Dastan runs across a loyalist to Tamina who is trying to smuggle out another weapon; this time it’s a dagger. Confused by the man’s aggression over a dagger, Dastan soon finds out there is more to Tamina’s story than she’s telling. Before he starts his personal investigation into the matter he’s framed by someone for the murder of his father the king. On the run he must now solve two mysteries before he is caught and killed.
I’m not quite sure where critics absolutely despised this film. It wasn’t like it was a failure, in fact it was good. One thing I’ve learned over the years when it comes to director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is that he knows how to handle multiple storylines really well. He does it again with this one, though I think this time his multiple plot point juggling didn’t go quite as well as his previous films.
Basically, you’ve got Dastan running for his life from his own family because he was framed for the murder of his father. You’ve also got a nice little love story blooming between Dastan and Tamina. On top of this, you’ve got the overbearing storyline about the destruction of the world thanks to the Dagger of Time, which turns the past back into the present. The murder plot point can be figured out before it’s revealed halfway into the film. I won’t say more than that, but you’ll get it immediately.
The dagger of time is a bit of a device driving the action you’ve paid to see. Newell handled that plot point really well, as he made the dagger more interesting than it actually was; especially at the very end of the film. Many critics really hated the end of the film, but I thought it was fine. I think it fits perfectly and it works perfectly, especially when you’re trying to figure out the dagger’s main usage and why it’s so dangerous. Anyway, I’ll leave that alone.
If there is a weak part to this film it’s that Dastan’s eventual burning love for Tamina simply doesn’t fit. For a guy to attack someone’s kingdom, kill 500+ people and then suddenly convince the leader (Tamina) to fall in love with him is not good at all. If I was a king and someone killed 500 of my people then there would be animosity pretty much established ‘forever’ between the attackers and myself. It was definitely forced and it got in the way of the flow of the movie.
But, hey! Two out of three plot points working isn’t that bad, right?
Anyway, the story is really good, especially in the action department. You’ll get all the wonderful things that you got in the video games by the same name. Dastan jumps off ledges, leaps from rooftop to rooftop and does some really clever acrobatic attacks against his enemies. Seeing Gyllenhaal do this sort of action really impressed me and kept me glued to the film. That’s probably the biggest selling point with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and it doesn’t disappoint. The movie keeps going and going and doesn’t really take a moment to catch its breath, which is a good thing when you’re watching an action film (see Iron Man for details).
Shifting gears, you’ve got a nice Blu-ray version of this film that comes packed with the DVD and digital copy of of it. Having shot this wonderful Blu-ray in Morocco, the stunning 1080p visuals that come along with it make the environments of the gorgeous landscape come alive; even when they’re clearly desert. For example, when Dastan and Tamina find their way out of Dastan’s newly acquired kingdom (after his father is murdered) they have a wonderful wideshot with Dastan ducking behind a dune in the middle of the desert. If you don’t get slightly thirsty from this scene then I don’t know what to tell you. It’s pretty, it’s dry and it’s very detailed in terms of visuals.
As for the audio of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time you’re in for a treat. The action genre lends itself well to the Blu-ray format and excels on many occasions; this movie is no different. You’ll get some great dramatic music from composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Metal Gear Solid 4, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) as his notes fit the action bill perfectly in DTS-HD.
Finally, the special features on this Blu-ray are potentially a bit disappointing. The upswing to the goodies is the CineExplore: The Sands of Time feature which allows you to gain more information on the film as it’s playing. You’ve seen this sort of technology before in movies like From Hell (the DVD, not the Blu-ray) where an icon will flash onscreen and the movie will go into an explanation of a particular scene you’re on. It’s neat and there are over 40 opportunities, but I’d rather have a featurette to choose.
Anyway, there is another actual featurette on the DVD that is a ‘making of’ featurette. It’s very interesting stuff on how the movie was made, who was brought into the film and how stunts were done (and also locations). I think it’s a more complete package featurette that you would come to expect, but it’s not in HD, which is disappointing.
The only other special feature is a deleted scene.