Ah, the fun and excitement of the adventure film. Filled with action, mystery, and romance, these films tend to be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences. Whether it’s The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, The Pirates of Caribbean trilogy, the Indiana Jones films, or even The Scorpion King, there’s something about these movies that gets people enthused and energized.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time had the opportunity to do these things but didn’t quite get there. I believe there are two main reasons why the film didn’t do as well as it could have.
But first, let me say that I enjoyed the film. It has plenty of action sequences, decent special effects, and an interesting story. So it’s not that bad. Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job as the hero, and the rest of cast does a good job as well. However, despite these positives, it’s the two negatives that I will talk about next that made the film frustrating to watch.
Prince of Persia is a movie that is in desperate need of a sense of humor about itself. The first two Mummy movies, the first Pirates, and all the Indiana Jones movies knew how to make sure the audience had a fun time watching. When movies like this take themselves to seriously, the result is a movie we laugh at instead of along with.
Prince of Persia takes itself WAY too seriously at times, which is to its own detriment. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor also had this problem; a problem that turned a self-aware franchise into a boring, dull, mess. If Persia had included a little more humor, a little campiness, and a little nod to the audience, I think the film would have been better received. I think injecting a few intended laughs into the story would have aided in its success. It is a Disney movie after all!
My second issue was with the end of the movie. Don’t worry; if you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it for you. At the end of the film something happens that made me shake my head and say “Really? You’re gonna pull that?” out loud.
The end of this movie was extremely frustrating and made me feel cheated out of the last two hours I had spent watching it. While I understand why the writers did what they did, I did not feel it was a satisfying ending to the movie.
But other than a lack of humor and the ending it’s a decent film. And much better than The Last Airbender, so there!
The Blu-ray for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has a really cool special feature for anyone who wants to know the intricacies of how the film was made. In the Special Features section on the Blu-ray, click the “Sands of Time” option. This will fire up a special viewing mode of the film.
When the Sands of Time dagger appears during a scene, hit the ENTER button on the Blu-ray remote and it will take you to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of that particular sequence in the film.
This feature enables you to pick and choose what segments you want to see the making of and which you don’t. These sections include interviews with the cast and crew and give insight into the filmmaking process. It’s pretty cool.
There’s also a deleted scene, The Banquet: Garsiv Presents Heads (and no, Heads is not some musical group that’s performing at the palace in the film).
The DVD of the film has the standard behind-the-scenes featurette, An Unseen World: Making Prince of Persia.
And, you also get a Digital Copy of the film for your computer or portable device.
Despite it’s flaws, I still recommend you check out Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is available NOW on Blu-ray, DVD, and in Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo Packs!