3 replies to this topic

[Gabriel]

What happens when a Hollywood producer gets his mitts on the rights to a video game movie? Typically, it is a disaster: poorly-made piece of garbage in which the director relies on "cutting edge" computer effects to distract viewers from noticing the complete lack of plot. The result? Enraged viewers, furious that the video game series of their childhood was so humiliatingly debased and repackaged into something it was never meant to be.

Typically this is what happens with a video game movie. Typically... Unless you're Mike Newell of "Goblet of Fire" fame. Add Jerry Bruckheimer as the producer and back the movie with Disney's money. You just might have a winning combination!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is far from a perfect movie. At times it reeked of Disney's "Aladdin" as some of the scenes were almost frame for frame from the award-winning animation of the 90's. The plot could remind one of the Iraq War with its not-so-subtle story about looking for weapons that don't exist. But there is something about this movie that catches you. Maybe it's Jake Gyllenhaal's playful portrayal of prince Dastan or the drop-dead gorgeous Gemma Arterton. At times the movie was predictable yet this did not cause it to be boring. Constant action and humor on beautifully crafted sets pulled you into the movie. The ending was open enough to allow for another but solid enough so the company could easily stop right where they are without any regrets.

As far as video games movies go, they normally don't even pass for entertainment. Yes, we're looking at you, Uwe Boll. But Prince of Persia was more than entertaining. It shows that with proper writing and directing, and maybe just a little extra cash, a video game can be turned into a decent movie that anyone, even someone who is not a fan of the series, could enjoy. It gives us hope, perhaps the other video game memories of our childhoods could one day be further immortalized, rather than butchered, on the silver screen.

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Last I had heard, directors who had other movie rights to video games were:

Steven Spielberg: Fatal Frame
John Wu: Metroid

[sobamushi]

I felt that there were jumps in the story that could have been explained better, and at times it was frustrating for the story to....just go, and it leaves you thinking "oh wait did I miss something??"

But yes, the prince is very distractingly gorgeous indeed..maybe that's why I enjoyed the movie as much as I did.

Fatal Frame..wait that's not being made into a movie is it?? Or has it happened already?? The game was freakish as hell...I'd probably never watch the movie.

[Jason McCloud]

It was... okay. I felt it needed some better acting though, and there were some moments where I was like "oooooooooooooookay o.O"

[Gabriel]

I felt that a couple of the actors could have stepped it up, but overall it was better than most other movies of its genre. The actors weren't COMPLETELY green.