Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Filmmaker Mike Newell's effects-laden video-game-turned-action-adventure film is set in ancient Persia, where a brave young street orphan is adopted by the wise and noble King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) as his third son. As the story unfolds, the now-grown Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) assists his two brothers, Tus and Garsiv (Richard Coyle and Toby Kebbell), in an ill-advised siege of the religious city of Alamut. Into Dastan's hands falls the fabled and powerful Dagger of Time, which pouty Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) is charged with protecting (filled with magical sand, the weapon is capable of rewinding time and thus becomes a magnet for a slew of schemers). Swashbuckling Gyllenhaal is buffed up, engaging here in the kind of acrobatic battle once waged by Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, while a frenetic multitude of sandstorms and senseless chase sequences offers gainful employment to numerous camels and costumed stunt doubles. Ben Kingsley costars as Nizam, a villainous uncle, while Alfred Molina adds humor as money-grubbing Sheik Amar, presiding over ostrich races and quipping about taxes. Essentially a big-budget B-movie, this is a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include the making-of featurette “An Unseen World” (16 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an interactive CineExplore feature which allows access to 42 different production segments during the film including “Walking up Walls,” “Filming in Morocco,” “Ostrich Jockey Tryouts,” and more (80 min. total), a deleted scene (2 min.), the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a shallow but eye-catching popcorn flick.] (S. Granger)