In retrospect, Mike Newell’s 2010 “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” may seem like one of those early misguided video game adaptations that completely missed the mark. But the truth is, the Jake Gyllenhaal-led action-fantasy was a step in the right direction, compared to earlier attempts at turning games into spectacles like 2007’s “Hitman” or 2008’s “Max Payne” on the big screen. “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” at least resembled the vibe of the source material despite failing to recreate the IP’s essence in another medium. That said, the movie was undeniably a far cry from successful game adaptations like “The Last of Us.”
It was way too generic and lifeless, ignoring most of the strengths that made the games a thrilling and singular adventure. Looking back, Gyllenhaal seems to agree, and he kind of regrets picking the role that wasn’t really meant for him. In a 2019 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” actor admitted that the part of Dastan wasn’t the right fit for him.
The most obvious reason is that the main character was of Iranian descent, not white. Gyllenhaal said, “I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I’m picking them. And you’re bound to slip up and be like, ‘That wasn’t right for me,’ or ‘That didn’t fit perfectly.’ There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do.”
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time wasn’t a faithful adaptation, but still delivered some epic fun
As a devoted fan of the Ubisoft franchise, I remember being kind of bummed after watching the film, and how few of the essential elements from the games made it into the movie. There was so much potential given how cinematic and terrific the action sequences and set pieces in the games were, which Mike Newell and Co. mostly ignored and went for a different vision. However, if viewed as a stand-alone adventure flick largely independent of the franchise, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” was decently entertaining eye candy if nothing else.
Despite Jake Gyllenhaal not being the perfect choice for the hero, his fiery and playful chemistry with co-star Gemma Arterton provided a charming, swashbuckling dynamic that did a lot of heavy lifting to balance the feature’s flaws. Combined with some spectacular visuals and epic set pieces, Newell’s movie managed to bring a standard level of similar films in the genre — it just couldn’t live up to the massive expectations. Perhaps if it weren’t called “Prince of Persia,” it would be remembered differently.
Regardless, most critics dismissed it as another failed video game adaptation, and its moderate box office success – garnering $336 million against a $200 million budget — just wasn’t solid enough to grant any sequels later on. It’s a shame that no big studio has taken another chance on it in the last 16 years, since the potential is still there to give “Prince of Persia” the treatment it deserves on the silver screen.
