Summer Movie Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Well, here we are with probably my most anticipated movie of the summer. I was not disappointed, but I wasn't astounded either.

Plot: Dastan is an orphan who was taken in by the king as a child and raised as a prince. When his brother orders an attack on a neighboring city, Dastan discovers a dagger which turns out to have power that turns back time. His father is murdered and Dastan is blamed. Along with the Princess Tamina (of the city they attacked), Dastan must find the true person responsible for his father's death and protect the world from the possible danger the dagger could unleash.

Cast: Let's just come right out and say it. Jake Gyllenhaal is uber attractive. I think he's a fantastic actor as well, and he proved that in this film. He made his character believable even with the sometimes shotty dialogue he was given. Gemma Arterton is decent and her character is phenomenally better than the one she played in Clash of the Titans. (To know how much I hated that character please see my review of THAT movie.) She and Jake had wonderful chemistry in my opinion. The only other character that stood out to me was Sheik Amar, a man who organized ostrich races. He had the best comedic dialogue in the film. The rest of the supporting cast did well, once again considering the cheese factor of the movie.

Likes and dislikes: Dastan. I loved his character, his costumes, everything. The fight scenes were well done, though at times I found the camera work to be slightly strange. The romance was nice (I'm never opposed to a little of that!), though I would have liked a better kiss. *Wink wink* I mean, they supposedly had all this tension throughout the film and all we got was that little smooch? Pshh, come on Mr. Director, you have single women in the audience! We need something to vicariously live through. ;) Special effects were decent, borderline great, but nothing too extraordinary.

I'll be honest, I had to see this movie twice in order to really decide how I felt about it. The first time I was distracted by my extreme tiredness and pounding migraine. (That's what I get for attempting the midnight showing!) That time I left the theater a little confused by how cheesy it turned out to be. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was intentionally cheesy. So, I went to see it again with Leslee and I really really enjoyed it the second time around. It could have been due to the fact it was in the afternoon and I only had a mediocre headache and not a full on migraine. So I recommend going into the movie knowing that the dialogue and story is a tad cliche' and cheesy, but have the mindset that it's supposed to be that way. Be excited to enjoy a light, fun, action adventure! And for SURE enjoy Jake Gyllenhaal's good looking-ness! :D

My rating: 6.9 out of ten.

Next week we have Killers, staring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. But before that, I'll probably post the photos of Kevin and Jenny's wedding that I took on Monday! Be excited!!! :D Peace, my friends!