Review - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a 2010 action movie produced by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer, and is based on the video game of the same name published by Ubisoft. 

       Set in the Land of Persia, the movie establishes that the land is ruled by the King, Sharaman, who rules with his brother, Nizam, at his side. In addition, Sharaman has two sons, Tus and Garsiv. But, the gods decided that the King's family isn't yet complete, and one day, King Sharaman witnesses the bravery of a young boy in the streets. The boy, Dastan, has no parents to speak of, and so is adopted by King Sharaman and becomes a Prince of Persia. 

       Fifteen years later, and Tus, Garsiv, and Dastan, under the counsel of Nizam, learn that the Holy City of Alamut is forging weapons to sell to Persia's enemies. So, Tus and Garsiv stand as a distraction, while Dastan leads his crew of mercenaries to sneak into the city and open its Eastern gate. And, after a lot of swashbuckling action and parkour (two things the Prince of Persia games are famous for), the bulk of the Persian force enters the city. It's here where the brothers meet the famed Princess of Alamut, Tamina, who is the protector of a powerful relic, the Dagger of Time. 

         After the battle, Tamina denies the existence of any weapons forged in Alamut, and Tus suggests a political solution via a marriage between Tamina and Tus himself. Initially uninterested, Tamina changes her mind when she sees Dastan has collected the Dagger of Time. Some time later, King Sharaman arrives, berates Tus for leading the attack on Alamut, and then re-suggests the idea of Tamina being wed to Tus, who already has plenty of wives, while Dastan has none, and thus should be the one to wed Tamina. However, when presenting Sharaman with a sacred robe, Dastan sees that the robe is poisoned and is burning Sharaman to death. Garsiv accuses Dastan of murdering the King, and he goes on the run with Tamina, while Tus is made King. 

          Dastan and Tamina then go on a vast adventure across the Land of Persia, Dastan learns that the Dagger has the ability to turn back time, and they run into a band of roughnecks led by Sheik-Amar, who attempts to claim the bounty on Dastan's head, but he and Tamina get away. Covertly meeting with Nizam, Dastan notices burn marks on his hands, and realizes that Nizam is the treacherous one, and he poisoned the robe that killed Sharaman. And, it's after another escape that Tamina reveals the story of the Sands of Time, and how they nearly destroyed the world, until a young girl prayed to the gods to stop the wrath of the Sands, and thus they were sealed away in a massive sandglass, which only the Dagger can pierce and unleash the sands. And, a terrified Dastan realizes Nizam's plan: pierce the sandglass and turn back time to the point where he and Sharaman were children and change the past. As children, Nizam saved Sharaman from a lion attack, and so he intends to allow the lion to kill Sharaman, which would make Nizam King instead, and thus neither Tus nor Garsiv would be born, and Dastan would grow up on the streets and never be adopted into the royal family. 

        Dastan and Tamina, joined by Sheik-Amar and his crew, head for the Hindu Kush, where a sanctuary is located. This sanctuary is where the Dagger came from and is the one place it can be returned. However, Nizam has sent a band of mercenaries called Hassansins after Dastan, and they attack, and Garsiv, who also arrived at the sanctuary to capture Dastan, is killed, while the Dagger is taken. So, Dastan has only one choice: prove both the power of the Dagger and Nizam's treachery to Tus, and he gets the help of Sheik-Amar and his right-hand man Seso, who dies retrieving the Dagger for Dastan. And, of course, Dastan demonstrates the Dagger's power to Tus, who is killed by Nizam. A fight ensues, and leads to the Sandglass Chamber, where Nizam does pierce the sandglass and unleash the sands.

        Dastan grabs the Dagger, and is able to turn back time to the day he and his brothers invaded Alamut. Dastan rushes to his brothers, and attempts to convince them that Nizam lied about Alamut having any weapons forges. Tus demands someone locate Nizam's spy, who will know the truth, and Nizam attacks, being killed by Tus, Garsiv, and Dastan. The three brothers then meet with Tamina, and apologize for invading her city under a false assumption. Tus then suggests strengthening the alliance between Alamut and Persia by having Tamina be wed to Dastan, who is very much a son to King Sharaman as Tus and Garsiv are, despite having no royal blood, and is a true Prince of Persia. Dastan then returns the Dagger to Tamina as an engagement gift, and tells he he looks forward to a long future together. 

         So, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is actually pretty fun. There's a ton of action, a well-paced story, and some stellar performances. Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan is a kickass lead, and Gemma Arterton is truly stunning as Princess Tamina. Both Richard Coyle and Toby Kebbel as Tus and Garsiv were fantastic, and Ben Kingsley was a phenomenal villain as Nizam. And, I laughed my ass off with Alfred Molina as Sheik-Amar, who was absolutely hilarious. The set and costume design are absolutely fantastic, and really give the look of the Land of Persia some real authenticity. But, it's honestly one of those movie where it helps not to think of it in terms of comparison to the video game it was based on, as it might be more entertaining if you've never actually played the original Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time video game. But, overall, director Mike Newell and the crew at Jerry Bruckheimer Productions made a fun action movie with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,.and I give it a rating of 4/5. 

       Okay guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you next time.