Prince of Persia - Fun for the Gamers, Lame For the Rest of Us

Prince of Persia

Director: Mike Newell

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina

Prince of Persia is a long CGI fest made for someone with the attention span of a 10-year-old. The gamers out there will probably love the film because it was like watching someone play a video game the whole time. The spotty plot and had more holes than a sponge, and was even less absorbing. The Prince of Persia is an empty movie that relies exclusively on its big budget special effects, and fails to deliver anything more than a slight chuckle and a couple of yawns.



CGI has become a slow and painful plague on the summer blockbuster and it is all too evident in the constant action sequences barely held together by a videogame plot with a script aimed at pre-teens. Some of the stunts are fun and exciting feats of acrobatic prowess, but they are ruined by the obviously green screened in sets. Then the really ridiculous action scenes are so farfetched it is absolutely unconvincing to the audience.

The costume design however was really amazing. This is definitely the only category that Prince of Persia might be considered for an Oscar in. There was intricately designed armor and beautiful flowing silk robes. The amazing costuming did lend an authenticity to the film and helped me to ignore the video game scenery.
This film was not a terrible movie. It will be a popular movie especially for lovers of the video games and for the younger movie crowd. One thing that really bugged me was the movie maker’s indecision as to who the film was targeting. It was trying too hard to get adults, teenagers, and little kids, of either gender into the theaters and make them enjoy the film.



The side characters were the absolute worst part. Alfred Molina plays an outlaw who is supposed to be the leader of a roughish band of killers and thieves. This is just a cover however for a secret society of ostrich racers who don’t want to pay taxes. Molina is supposed to be the anti-hero-fun-villain. He is instead the worst written character to ever co-star in a film. He is a stock character that the filmmakers tried to revive, but it felt forced and badly written.

Prince of Persia is an overused plot in the time-traveling and event-fixing genre. It is fun to see a live-action Aladdin style film, but the writing and filming of the movie were done in a very popular way, made to appeal to the masses in a generic formula. I won’t give Prince of Persia anything higher than a 5 out of 10, but most people will find it a fun adventure film.

My appetite was just spoiled by the over used computer special effects. Once these special effects were used to add a little spice to already exciting movies; however, now they are used as the meat of a bland and tasteless dish. It is a tragedy that CGI and green screens is now the thread-bare blanket not quite concealing the shoddily constructed plots they are draped over.




Sex/Nudity – 2 out of 10 – There are a few shirtless men, woman in cleavage revealing and skin tight costumes, and some kissing.

Violence/Gore – 6 out of 10 – There are a few violent battle scenes with lots of sword play, some explosions and killing. There is very little blood at all though. A few people get stabbed and we see little trickles of blood. There is quite a bit of death, some people get hit in the chest with arrows or bolts and we see a little blood at their mouths and chests. We see dead corpses and bare skeletons a few times. Some men are attacked and killed by snakes, a man kills a few snakes.

Profanity – 2 out of 10 – there are a few religious exclamations and some name calling.