Film Review: 'Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time'

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is Hollywood's latest take on video games, directed by Mike Newell and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the man behind the Pirates Of The Caribbean and CSI franchises.

The plot of The Sands Of Time closely follows the plot of the game of the same name: the Prince (who was known only by his title in the games but has now acquired the name Dastan) accidentally gets caught up in a battle to control the powerful Dagger of Time, an artifact capable of controlling the flow of time, and allowing one to do all sorts of dastardly things. He is helped by the princess of the city that his father's army invaded. He manages to save the world, but saving the world comes with something of a nasty catch.

Now, video game adaptations in general, like comic book adaptations in general, have usually been regarded as complete failures by fans - with examples of this being Super Mario Brothers (starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo), Hitman (starring Timothy Olyphant), Doom (starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Karl Urban), Resident Evil (starring Milla Jovovich), Silent Hill (starring Radha Mitchell) and Max Payne (starring Mark Wahlberg). The question is: does Prince Of Persia fall as flat as its predecessors?

Yes and no. While it keeps the plot that fans of the game know and love, it's been stripped of many of the other things that we love. The Prince's acrobatics take a back seat in the movie, except for a truly well-done sequence in the movie's opening where he climbs the walls of the holy city of Alamut and opens the gates for his brother's army virtually by himself. Feisty princess Farah has been replaced by the equally feisty princess Tamina, which isn't in itself a bad thing, as her character seems to incorporate elements of characters Elika and Kaileena from later games. And instead of being chased by creepy sand thralls, the Prince and company are now being pursued by creepy assassins, sent by Nizam - who used to be known only by his title, the Vizier, and is now the Prince's uncle …

Despite these little things, Prince Of Persia still manages to be a fun romp through the desert, with some really good performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley, as well as a fun turn from the always-excellent Alfred Molina as a rogue ostrich-racing promoter (of all things) who seems a little too fond of his ostriches.

I'd give it about a seven out of ten.

Film Review: 'Iron Man 2'

Here's a link to the official site.

Iron Man 2, the latest production of a Marvel comic book, is the sequel to Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr as irrepressible genius and narcissist billionaire-turned-superhero Tony Stark.

In the first film, Tony revealed himself to be the secret identity of mysterious, metal-suited hero Iron Man, and must now deal with the consequences of this action - namely the American government trying to seize the Iron Man suit for their own ends, the jealousy of his long-time business rival Justin Hammer, and the sudden appearance of a new and very dangerous adversary: Whiplash.

As in the first film, Tony struggles to be a hero. He knows that he's irresponsible and unreliable, but being a good hero seems pointless in view of the fact that he is rather rapidly dying of palladium poisoning – from the device in his chest keeping him alive. In the face of certain death, Tony must now decide what kind of a legacy he wants to leave behind.

Iron Man is refreshing as a superhero, as he has a distinctive personality, and is defined more by his character faults, vices and misdeeds than by any tendencies towards heroism. His secret identity is public knowledge, and he is Iron Man for his own benefit more than anyone else's. Tony is a rarity among the ranks of Marvel superheroes - he's selfish, seeking fame, not redemption, and having no real cause.

The visual effects were above par, fitting seamlessly into the live action material - it was really very hard to tell which was which. As far as entertainment goes, Iron Man 2 doesn't disappoint – part action film, part romance, part drama, part comedy. It isn't being released in the United States for another four days, but has already grossed $100.2 million, making more than the original.

Robert Downey Jr is as usual effortlessly screen-stealing, and so believable that he could in fact be Tony Stark playing Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow as the female lead is nowhere near a damsel in distress, and nor is Scarlett Johansson as femme fatale Black Widow. Mickey Rourke is very good as Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, a man whose brutish exterior belies a massive intelligence - he's almost as clever as Tony.