Prince of Persia advertisement in Westwood aka LA's Persian Mecca.
I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for months. Although I never played the video games and I’m not crazy about family action adventure films, I was still excited to see it. I was only excited to see it because it stars Jake Gyllenhaal and has the word “Persia” in it…because I love Jake and I’m Persian.So I watched Prince of Persia this past week. I went into the theater with low expectations but with the small hope that the film would not poorly represent my people and that Jake would be super hot in it. And you know what? I had a blast watching the film! Prince of Persia is surprisingly entertaining. It officially gets my Persian stamp of approval.
My ethnocentric, Jake obsessed review (with some spoilers) after the jump!
Jake Gyllenhaal can be my Persian Prince any day. He’s always cute but in this film he is so so so sooooo HOT. And on top of the hotness, he’s just so likeable as a leading man. I don’t even care that he doesn’t really look Persian; I still think he’s a great Prince Dastan. None of the leading actors really look Persian or Middle Eastern. But both Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina have previously played Persian characters so I guess that counts for something. Seeing Richard Coyle, who played my favorite character in the BBC sitcom Coupling, as a Persian Prince was way weird though. But he’s cute so I’m ok with him being cast in the role. Continuing on that shallow note...Gemma Arterton is just so beautiful in this film that I can’t complain about her either. Yes, it would be great if I could see more Middle Eastern actors on screen (playing Middle Eastern characters or otherwise) but I think Prince of Persia was well cast despite the lack of Persians in it. I mean, us Persians are basically White people who tan beautifully. So I’m fine with the film portraying us as Brits with tans. And also, the actually acting caliber was just fine (for a live action Disney film).
Beyond the casting, I was actually impressed with the film’s attempt to accurately portray Ancient Persia. Although it’s never mentioned, it’s implied that the story is set after the inception of Islam as the major religion of Persia (as opposed to Zoroastrianism, the original Persian religion). The set design, props, and dialogue all give clues that we are watching an Islamic Persia. Some examples of these clues are: the Islamic architecture, the use of prayer beads, the use of the title “Sheik”, and the reference to having multiple wives. I think a more explicit mentioning of Islam is avoided because of the negative stigma currently surrounding the religion. But I also believe it’s avoided because the film aims to give audiences a general feeling of the Middle East rather than get wrapped up in any historical, religious, political, or geographical details. That’s why the things they did get wrong, like predominately setting the Persia in one big desert instead of making a greater effort to show the diverse landscape that really exists in that region, didn’t really bother me. Overall, Prince of Persia succeeds in creating a believable Middle East backdrop (mostly thanks to the set and the score).
Honestly, Prince of Persia is just a fantasy film based on a video game so I’d rather celebrate what works rather than get too unnecessarily critical over its inaccuracies and imperfections. But I’m going to have to ignore my Persian pride and Jake adoration in order to finish this review a little bit more objectively. So here I go: Director Mike Newell does a solid job of packing in a lot of characters and a few plot twists without overwhelming the audience (which he also successfully did for Goblet of Fire). Still, there’s very little character development. The film relies most heavily on the plot and action sequences. The plot twists (including the ending) are all super predictable. Some of the action sequences are cool (especially those involving Prince Dastan or the Hassansins) but I wish there was more use of that time-traveling-sand-dagger tool. I get that the point of the story is to protect and save the special sand but I still would’ve enjoyed seeing more of it or at least a greater emphasis on the special effects during the scenes where it was used. The special effects, cinematography, and editing are not particularly impressive. But the film is so well paced and lighthearted that I’m willing to overlook its flaws. Prince of Persia is the Disneyfied version of Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven--it’s an epic but on a way less grand, less serious scale. It’s a fun film to watch on the big screen and you don’t have to be a Persian, Jake Gyllenhaal-lover to enjoy it (although I think it helps if you are).
