Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina
Director: Mike Newell (Mona Lisa Smile, Donnie Brasco)
Running Time: 1 hr 54 min
Release Date: May 28, 2010
Budget: $200 million
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 47%
“…family friendly entertainment.” Claudia Puig, USA Today
“…empty-headed…” Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
Based on the popular video game of the same name, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is only worth the time of teenage boys. In this pointless action-adventure epic, Gyllenhaal plays a street orphan-turned-prince named Dastan who grows up to invade a nearby country as a sword-wielding warrior. He soon joins forces with a feisty princess (Clash of the Titans’ Arterton) to stop a magical dagger from destroying the world. The action sequences are surprisingly good and Gyllenhaal is better than his dense role warrants, but the nonsensical, lazy storyline makes Persia slowly drag by like sands in an hourglass.
