Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Normally I go to reviews to decide whether or not to see a film. But if someone gives me a personal recommendation, I'll give that prior consideration. So though "Prince of Persia" got rather poor reviews, because one of my best friends said I'd like it, I decided to watch it when it hit Redbox.

Actually, to be fair, in trying to convince me, my friend said "You'll like it. He has long hair." Which was just funny enough to convince me. (It's true that in film I do tend to have a weakness for longer hair on heroes - ;) )

"Prince of Persia" is the story of a street boy who through an act of courage, attracted the eye of the King of Persia and became... you guessed it - a prince. However fifteen years later he finds a bit more than he bargained for in two scheming brothers, a haughty princess, a party of unscrupulous ostrich raiders, and a knife that can turn back time.

It's a fun film that had more character than I was expecting for a story based on a video game. However it had a little too much action. Although the sequences are definitely cool, I would have preferred to see our hero start off less skilled, and have to grow into his abilities.

That being said, the premise is interesting and the characters intriguing. We don't get to see nearly enough of the knife turning back time, but it's understandable, I suppose. You can't let it be used all the time, or it would lose its magic.

I did feel that there was an unfair use of "deus ex machina" that made the ending a little lame for me. Some people may like it better, but I felt it was cheating.

However they did leave a bit of a melancholy tone in, which I was glad for because every hero should have loss at the end of their journey. If they never lose anything, how can they grow?

Oh yeah. And I did like Jake Gyllenhaal's long hair, thank you very much.