Prince of Persia

I did not know they had teeth whitener 2600 years ago. This movie was better than the Scorpion King because of the music and constant action. Both movies were about the same on the ridiculous level. This movie is probably as good as The Mummy as well. Primarily because the lead actress is hot in this movie (too bad she is not that attractive at the premier).

Jake Gyllenhaal gets his feet wet in an action movie. He is jumping around roof tops like Matt Damon did in The Bourne Ultimatum. Except that movie was much more realistic which is why Persia will not equal that movie's box office take nor have its staying power. Dastan is the hero and he can fight a little. He just leaps everywhere and seems to have ankles made of iron. In one scene is falling about 40 feet, wow.

Gemma Arterton plays Tamina and she is stunning throughout. Amazing eyes and lips. What happens to her in real life when she puts all that makeup on is anyone's guess? She looks completely opposite, too bad. But she makes this movie shine which is something Rachel Weisz never did in her mummy movies.

Persia had the action, a solid plot and some funny characters. They even allowed another character to completely dominate an action scene. I like that. The director is a team player. This weapons thrower took one for the team.

The good guys win in the end. Why the father did not live when Dastan reversed time is still unclear to me? Much of the fighting was done on movie sets, it was quite easy to detect this which is a detraction. In addition, no way snakes can jump like that. It would have been interesting to see this movie if it was as realistic as Troy or a movie of this caliber. 300 was artificial as well, that was a glorified cartoon but it brought Gerald Butler to the forefront.

Ben Kingsley is still weird looking, he plays a wicked spiritual leader called Nizam. He did not do a good job of defending himself at the end that is for sure and his spies gave him up when they took to the sword.

This movie could have been a little better if it did not look so fake for much of the time. It would have been nice if they mixed in some ancient Persian dialect. The viewer learns nothing about Persia watching this movie. They did mention the Hindu Kush, good for them.

I allocate 3 stars for this film.***