Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time

Review by Sean Lynch

If it ain't broke, don't fix it - that's the motto that's been applied to Prince Of Persia : The Sands Of Time (easily the most blatant attempt to build a franchise in cinematic  history) which comprises of equal parts of Pirates Of The Caribbean, Indiana Jones and The Mummy.

The only problem with that is... well, it comprises of equal parts of Pirates Of The Caribbean, Indiana Jones and The Mummy.

Prince Of Persia : The Sands Of Time (from uber producer, Jerry Bruckheimer) follows a rogue prince (a stupidly buff Jake Gyllenhall) who reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Quantum Of Solace's Gemma Arterton).

The two then go to battle against dark forces (and a lot of guys wearing eye liner) in order to protect an ancient dagger capable of turning back time.

Yep - it's releasing the Sands of Time - a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world... kind of like Back To The Future without the crazy plutonium stealing "Doc".

All the elements are here for quite a good time out at the movies with the family : Action, humour, hot girls, hot guys, sword play and an unnecessary dose of CGI.

So what makes Prince Of Persia so unbelievably forgettable?

Aside from the obvious emphasis on big and loud action pieces used to "bring this puppy home" (which are so noisy and messy that your brain just switches off most of the time) the biggest problem with Persia seems to be the pressure on Gyllenhall to carry a film with a fairly out-of-place accent.

Don't get me wrong, Prince Of Persia : The Sands Of Time isn't a bad way to spend your hard earned cash - it's fast, it's fun and it's easy enough to follow. Better yet, it's not a debacle on the scale of G.I. Joe.

However it's not mind blowing in any way, shape or form either - due solely to the fact that we've just seen it all before.

There in lies the problem. A $200M problem.

3 out of 5

Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time
Australian release: 27th May, 2010
Official Site: Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Director: Mike Newell