I'm no gamer but I married into a family of gamers so we were keen to see Prince of Persia when it came out. As a side-liner of gaming culture I was familiar with Persia and it's beloved Prince but not enough to know the story-line of the game etc. All that to say that whilst reviewers have criticized the movie for not being remotely close to the game except in name and hairstyle I came at it from a more ignorant perspective and this possibly increased my enjoyment of it.
The movie begins with the betrayal of Persia's youngest prince, Dastan, an adopted child of the king. He spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who betrayed him, and why, with the reluctant help of a neighbouring kingdom's lovely princess.Ben Kingsley as the dastardly uncle and Alfred Molina as the ostrich racer steal the show with their campy performances and Jerry Bruckheimer pulls out all the stops to create some exciting action sequences and over the top sets.
Rating: Sometimes I think movie reviewers expect too much from a movie. PoP is not a complicated movie; the plot is paint by numbers and the characters are fairly cookie cutter but this is to be expected from this sort of popcorn blockbuster. If you don't sweat the details too much and settle in for a rollicking good time then you will have one. We will watch it again in a few years.
Naughty bits: As to be expected with a movie based on a computer game there is a lot of fighting and plenty of people die but in a bloodless, goreless fashion so it's not suitable for younger kids. Also if you hate snakes then you shouldn't watch this movie, there are quite a few creepy snake shots. There is little sexual behaviour between the characters but the two headliners are often sensuously dressed so if you have teens who you won't want looking at Jake Gyllenhaal's muscles or Gemma Arteton's curves for most of the movie then you have been warned. Snacks: A platter of crackers, hummus, dips and olives
Family In-quotes: "Your whole plan is suicide!"
Related Goodies:
The Game which inspired the movie
