Prince of Persia I was pretty exctied to see from the moment when I saw the first trailer for it. I went in to seeing this movie with pretty high expectations. I think part of this expectation comes from the success and particularly good movies that Disney made with the Pirates of the Carribean franchise. I have been back and forth over the past day or so trying to figure out exactly how this movie compared to the expectation that I had for it. While it did not rise to the level of Pirates of the Carribean it was a good movie and was better then the Pirates sequels.
I think one of the biggest strenghts in this film was that of bringing in the series creator Jordan Mechner. While at times including the creator can stifle the process, as many will fight changes to the source material that may need to be altered to work better with a director's vision; but I feel that Mechner's involvement showed his desire to see his brain-child develop into a success on the big screen. At the same time Disney and Bruckheimer set out to make a successful movie like they did with Pirates and change the stigma that has accompanied movies that are based on video games, a la Doom (need I say more).
Their strategy was the same, they wrote their own story that borrowed elements from the game, but did not strictly follow it. The film stands alone, and does not require it's audience to be intimately familiar with the source material. While it had nods to the video game, for me not having played many of the Prince of Persia games I did not feel lost in trying to understand things. While it give its proper nods to the games, I am sure those intimately familiar with the game felt that they could enjoy the game and not worry about where the deviations from the game occur.
The visuals are stunning. the cinematography from the deseret landscapes to the beautiful city of Alamut catch your eye and leave you wanting to go find the city specifically. I felt as though I was transported from teh theater to the ancient times of Persia. The way the sets are constructed especially the Persian markets are spot on and make you feel like at any moment a vendor will shove some sort of buyable good in front of you.
Of course the action in a movie like this needs to be there and bruckheimer and company do not disappoint as we are treated to swordfights, chases through busy markets and even some explosions. In the video game the parkour style of running is used prominently by the Prince of Persia in fights and while some of the diehards may have felt that it was not prominent enough in the movie, for me it was just perfect so as not to inundate us to the point that it feels more cheesy and just put in to show see we are following the video game.
Gyllenhaal and Arterton have great chemistry throughout the film. The emotions that they portray for one another throughout the film are believable. I was really surprised by Gyllenhaal, going into this movie with the high expectation I felt that he may be the weaklink because I was not sure if he had the ability to be the action hero type. He does a great job in the action sequences and fights like you would expect your action hero to fight. Arterton also stepped up and showed a vast improvement in herself as an actress since Quantum of Solace. Arterton manages to inject wit, charm and emotion into her character, not to mention looking gorgeous at the same time. However I was slightly disappointed by Ben Kingsley's performance - a two dimensional villain. Granted, Kingsley acted great in the role but I felt like it just didn't match to his standards.
The reason Prince of Persia was successful in my mind when compared to other video games turned into movies was that it successfully combined action and story. While the dialogue was nothing overpowering and did have its cheesy moments, they were able to make it successful in telling the story by keeping it simple. And while it had a couple more slow motion shots then necessary, but that is a staple of a Bruckheimer film, it never really seemed to drag and kept you engaged as the story progressed.
For the fact that it is in my mind a truly successful video game turned movie and was able to give us not only action but a unique story I am giving this movie three and a half buckets of popcorn. While it may not appealas much to the fairer sex this is definitely a guy movie that most will enjoy. They have also been able to set it up as a franchise of films.
-The Movie Man-
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