Reversing the Sands of Time
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Everybody has made mistakes that we wish we could take a mulligan on, but life is not a game of golf, nor is it a video game inspired movie involving turning back time like Price of Persia: The Sands of Time. Jake Gyllenhaal and Ben Kingsley star in Disney’s movie version of the video game of the same title developed by Ubisoft.
The movie begins with a young boy (Dastan) being captured by Persian soldiers for standing up to them when they were about to execute another boy. As they are about to execute him, the king stops them and takes the boy in as a son for showing bravery and standing up to the guards. Fifteen years later, the child, now an adult played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is storming a holy city that was supposedly supplying weapons to Persia’s enemies. During the siege, he dismounts a rider that was attempting to flee the city to protect a special dagger that turns back time when the sands inside are released. Treachery is afoot when Dastan is framed for a murder he does not commit and is forced to flee with the dagger and princess who was sworn to protect it.
I haven’t played the video game version of Price of Persia: The Sands of Time on which this movie was based, but I have seen gameplay footage of it. I have also played Braid which has a Mario Brothers sort of feel to it with the same concept of rewinding time to where you made your mistake so you can replay it without having to restart the level. The movie definitely had the feel of a video game to it from Dastan’s leaping from rooftop to rooftop and running up and off of walls which made for a very fun experience.
A couple of things bothered me about the movie though. Several times throughout the movie, there were times where a bad guy would come out of nowhere that didn’t make any sense for him to be there, or Dastan would slip into somewhere stealthily without anybody noticing, and also skipping how he did it. We were just to assume that everything went all smoothly. To compare it to modern times, he snuck into a hearse surrounded by guards who would recognize him on sight, and he wasn’t wearing any disguise, save for a veiled cloak.
What I did like was the interaction between Dastan and the princess transitioning from a point where they strongly dislike each other and give each other grief when they get the opportunity to eventually falling in love. Like I said above, I thought the whole turning back time a few moments earlier to correct a mistake was a very neat concept to play with. There was also plenty of sword play, dagger throwing and all around action in there. If you’re a video game lover, this is one of the better movies adapted from a video game that have been made.
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