Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Directed by Mike Newell
A rogue prince reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time – gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.
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What critics say influenced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The choreography of Dastan's jumping-jack athleticism borrows from the bouncy French tradition known as parkour (introduced to movie audiences in 2004's "District 13"), but the chaotic editing and frequent closeups sabotage the admirable work of the stunt men and disrupt the sense of genuine athleticism conveyed by (for example) daring Douglas Fairbanks in the silent "The Thief of Bagdad," an Arabian Nights genre predecessor.
He's an orphan; his birth parents are two movies, the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (1924) and Michael Powell (1940) versions of “ The Thief of Bagdad .”
Director Mike Newell doesn't just steal from "Pirates" - he borrows the Pierre Morel stunts from "District B13" and an Arab whip-master who goes all the way back to the first Indiana Jones.
Sure, the constant careening off walls and pillars and rooftops is more District B13 than Disney, but when you’ve got the man who made Pirates of the Caribbean into an entertainment zombie (read: almost impossible to kill), and a video game basis to guide your spectacle, we should expect a little unrealistic bravura.
His character's zest may be in a broader vein than Peter Ustinov 's peerless turn in "Spartacus."
The film's marketing campaign is highlighting connections with Pirates of the Caribbean and, despite the influence of a different director, the look and pacing are not dissimilar, although one could as easily compare Prince of Persia with Stephen Sommers' The Mummy .
Its bombastic $150-million budget is wasted on a garish onslaught of CGI that could have been stolen right out of 1999's " The Mummy ," while the script from Boaz Yakin (2004's " Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights ") and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard (2009's " The Uninvited ") is a hodgepodge of whiplash-inducing storytelling, frumpy dialogue, and repetitive action scenes set in unattractive, yellow-tinted locations.
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With his wavering British accent and $200 million abs, Jake Gyllenhaal is about as authentically Persian as Charlton Heston was a Mexican in Touch Of Evil, but he certainly cuts a good figure, and cinematographer John Seale, who won an Oscar for The English Patient, flatters him in every shot.
But in terms of its cinematic qualities, "Prince of Persia" feels like a knock-off of earlier, better fantasy films — not just the many incarnations of "Aladdin" and "Ali Baba" tales, but also the "Mummy" movies, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and even the long-forgotten "Krull" (1983).
“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” will go down in history akin to other video-game-to-film failures including “Resident Evil: Extinction,” “Max Payne,” “Postal,” “BloodRayne,” “Doom,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,” “House of the Dead,” “Mortal Kombat,” “Street Fighter” and “Double Dragon”.
Can Bruckheimer succeed in a gamer world where Super Mario Bros., Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat and Max Payne fell on their digital asses?
“Based on a theme-park attraction” sounds in theory like it would be worse, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer beat the odds with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, so anything is possible.
It’s not perfect, and it’s not the roaring good time that we had with “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” but it was a fun film.
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The stalwarts of this type of “Arabian Nights” film are the 1924 and 1940 versions of “Thief of Bagdad,” “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” (1944), “Sinbad the Sailor” (1947) and “Aladdin” (1992).
The stalwarts of this type of “Arabian Nights” film are the 1924 and 1940 versions of “Thief of Bagdad,” “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” (1944), “Sinbad the Sailor” (1947) and “Aladdin” (1992).