Prince of Persia

[Edge7]

Saw the movie on opening with a group of friends and my dad, who watched me play the game when I was a kid. All in all, it was a decent movie. I'm a little bitter how even when I set my expectations rather low, they STILL manage to leave me unimpressed. If the fight scenes weren't too close to the action, or didn't change camera angles enough to disorient the viewer, the slow-mo effect ruined them for me. Also, the romance felt rushed, and the only times I laughed was when The Prince (I refuse to call him Dastaan) and Tamina 1up each other to gain ownership of the dagger, or the movie wasn't trying to be funny. For a final complaint, the ending didn't satisfy me; (SPOILER)there was no sense of loss like in the game when Farah rebutes the Prince's affections due to the time loop. In fact, the exact opposite happens, making the ending kinda dull and unimpressive imo.

Personal greifs aside, the movie was fairly entertaining, the popcorn was good, the actors did a decent job for the most part(although I didn't really like Tamina's actor,I forgot her name), and I was able to buy an ICEE for the car ride home.

[Chris]

I saw it a couple of days ago, and it left me feel extremely underwhelmed. The acting was truly some of the worst I have ever witnessed on screen (the girl, forgot her name, was like an even worse edition of Megan Fox), and it never felt like I was watching a movie based upon the game. Like a lot of movies based upon video games, they butchered the spirit of the game. Severely and insurmountably disappointed. I really, really wanted to like it.

Worth watching if you want a summer popcorn flick. But do not expect anything more than that.

[Breine]

It's always had popcorn flick written all over it :P

Anyway, I haven't seen it yet, but I think I will eventually just 'cause I'm a fan of the games. Plus, the movie does kinda look like fun, and the cast is hot. Sounds like the ingredients to a pretty decent popcorn flick to me.

[Jiro]

I respectfully disagree with both of you, I was incredibly impressed that they didn't trash it and it had actual merit. The camera angles, as Edge7 mentioned, were a bit meh a few times, but overall I was impressed.

As for not following the spirit of the game (taken from Wiki):

On the morning of a siege on a holy city, the Prince (seeking glory and honor) infiltrates the <del>Maharajah's treasure vaults to plunder the finest treasures for his father.</del> city so his brothers can conquer it. Upon defeating <del>rather inept guards,</del> some guy, the Prince <del>comes upon a mysterious chamber which houses</del> finds the famed Dagger of Time. Unaware of its power, <del>he climbs to retrieve the blade,</del> he is forced to flee the city etc etc, only to discover its abilities by accident. <del>Narrowly evading his demise, the Prince returns to his father, who plans to gift the hourglass (and the Sands of Time) to the sultan of Azad.</del> The Vizier (aka former king's brother) <del>suggests that the Prince unlock the hourglass so that the sultan might fully enjoy his gift.</del> wants the Hourglass of Time so he can become king in the past. The maharajah's daughter (who was captured during the siege), <del>Farah,</del> Tamina, tries in vain to <del>warn the Prince, who releases</del> take the dagger back to prevent the release of the Sands of Time.

etc etc. You can see the influences, imo, throughout the film. Some are harder to see though, so I can understand.

[Agent Proto]

Having really never played the Prince of Persia games, I really couldn't see if the movie was faithful to the games. However, I will say that the movie was pretty darn good, and better than I had expected, in fact I came watching without any in the first place. I'd say it's one of the better movies based on a video game though.

[Quindiana Jones]

Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton? Yeah, I'll watch it.

[BarelySeeAtAll]

Not seen it yet, and judging by some of the comments here it is going to be as bad as I thought it looked. I don't know much about the game and all that, but the film looked so bloody cliché to me I thought there's no point in watching it because it's so blatant what's happening. Sure, a few members of the cast are hot but to me that's not even worth the low-ticket prices of the crappy-quality Odeon. Alternatively, also not worth the luxury of the Exeter Vue. . .

I am not watching this film.

[Sephiroth]

I have watched it twice. It is as great as the games itself.

[Chris]

I must have been watching a completely different movie, because I thought it was clichéd in every way imaginable. A lot 'professional reviews' basically say the same thing. Sure, it's fun and it looks great, but a lot of the dialogue was downright embarrassing, and that girl cannot act if her life depended on it. All in my humble opinion. Also, none of the main characters looked even slightly Arabic/ Persian. It was like watching a bunch of Americans/Brits play dress-up.

[Depression Moon]

So how was Farah's bow & arrow skills in this movie?

[Edge7]

So how was Farah's bow & arrow skills in this movie?

You mean how was TAMINA's "damsel-in-distress" routine? *leaves to cry*

Once again, I didn't hate the movie; I actually enjoyed it a lot, and I saw a lot of references to both Prince of Persia and Assasin's Creed, but I felt that a little more effort could've been put in to make the script original, and Tamina was shown to be a weaker character than Farah.

Plus, it's not that important, but they completely changed the origin story of the sands, which I found was one of the most interesting plot twists in Warrior Within. That's a minor bit of nerd rage, but it still kinda bothers me.

[McLovin']

Only problem is the cliche dialogue and how the romance was completely rushed. It had good action scenes. I think it could have been a longer movie altogether. It was almost 2 hours including credits so like an extra 20 min could have made a difference for some scenes.

[Breine]

I thought it was rather enjoyable. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton were both hot, and the action was neat. Decent popcorn movie imo.

[Shorty]

I loved it. Jake Gyllhenhaal is my ultimate star crush, so I was rather pleased to watch him jump around and sword fight for two hours.

Didn't really pay much attention to the plot, though, so I'm of no help to this poll.