The history of video games turned Hollywood movies isn’t very good. There have been more bad ones than you could even count and an occasional decent one. I liked Mortal Kombat and the first two Resident Evil movies were dumb, mindless fun. Silent Hill was creepy and atmospheric thanks to French director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of The Wolf). I also have a soft spot for the hated Double Dragon, which featured cool future-shock set design and Robert Patrick hamming it up as a dastardly baddie. I pretty much hated every other videogame movie ever made. I still feel bad about having my Mom take me to see Super Mario Brothers, a film so bad, it was like baby vomit smeared on screen for 90 minutes. Prince of Persia “borrows” heavily from so many movies I lost count after the first 20 minutes or so, but the flick is also action-packed and frequently amusing. It’s a light, Saturday matinee romp with sneering baddies and some awesome parkour added in for basically no reason other than the fact that it looks cool……which turns out to be the best reason of all.
The story is about a quest to protect a mystical dagger that can turn back time using magical sand. Our hero is a buffed, loose Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) named Dastan (meaning champion or hero in Persian). He is taken in by the king as a child and raised as the king’s son. The king is given a robe that is poisoned and Dastan is framed for the treachery. Lots of sword-play, bouncing off walls, and a game Ben Kingsley sneering in guy-liner ensue. The movie is a lot more fun than the last Indiana Jones movie (the one with the fake greaser Mutt and the refrigerator of doom) and it moves quickly and efficiently. Gemma Arterton (from the dull Clash of the Titans remake) is the bland but pretty princess who Dastan must learn to trust as they search for the dagger and Alfred Molina pops up to ham it up and earn laughs, and towards the end we even get some supernatural assassins who come after our boy Dastan. One can control a snake and looks like a Twilight fan who doesn’t get enough sun while another wields a badass bone/whip thing straight out of the underrated Brotherhood of the Wolf.
Prince of Persia is a good example of B-moviemaking done at a high level. Well-directed, shot and acted, it’s a no brainer for a hot summer afternoon. It’s often campy and fun, something lacking this summer so far. This is light years away from Ridley Scott’s “serious” no fun take on Robin Hood. I almost forgot to mention that the whole thing is a metaphor for the United States and our botched and ill-advised mission in Iraq. The king and his people invade a peaceful neighbor convinced they have weapons and find nothing but lies and deceit. There’s a concept I can get behind in my summer blockbuster. Green Zone can suck it ! Prince of Persia tosses in a clever anti-war message that the kids will miss, but I appreciated anyway. Anti-Iraq invasion message plus parkour chases and nearly non-stop action equals a good time at the movies.
Grade: B+
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Jon The Bad Movie Guy
May 30, 2010 -
I liked the movie, too. I played Prince of Persia the video once before, but never finished it because there was a point in the game that I couldn’t get past. I also agree that it’s a better video game movie compared to Double Dragon or Mortal Kombat and so on. I love the Silent Hill games, but the movie was just okay. I liked the Street Fighter games, but liked the Van Damme movie a little more. Of course, Super Mario Bros. is a classic masterpiece of a game, and I liked the movie version, and think it works in its own very loosely based way. I think a Super Mario Bros. remake should be done. It can be a CG movie, and Pixar should do it. 🙂
Jon The Bad Movie Guy
May 30, 2010 -
My list of video games that could’ve been made into movies: Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Hudson’s Adventure Island, Paperboy, Rampage, and Pitfall. 🙂
Paladin
May 30, 2010 -
The parkour is actually part of the game (somewhat) the idea is that you can run on walls and jump like a maniac and do things that are impossible–I think that was a line in the commercial for the movie. The fancy footwork you had to perform made the game a pain in the ass. With the dagger concept, you could slow down time and do other things to make the game a world in itself. The problem is, most humans are only born with 2 hands.
Double Dragon kicks ass! “Now who’s the boss!?” (In reference to Alyssa Milano’s Marian) Best line in the movie!
John Kaufman
May 30, 2010 -
I made a picture called Super Mario Bros. (1993), and my six-year-old son at the time – he’s now 18 – he said, “Dad, I think you’re probably a pretty good actor, but why did you play that terrible guy “King Koopa” in “Super Mario Bros.”?” and I said, “Well Henry, I did that so you could have shoes”, and he said, “Dad, I don’t need shoes that badly”. Dennis Hopper