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Created Jun 03, 2010 12:01AM PST • Edited Jun 10, 2017 03:17PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Good 3.0

   Disappointing summer blockbuster, thy name is Prince of Persia. Not a complete flame-out, this video game come to the silver screen nonetheless proves convoluted, silly and forgettable. On the plus side, Jake and Gemma have charisma and more than a bit of chemistry together, the well burnished production provides plenty of eye candy and the ridiculous plot holds together in the end. So PoP provides a fine time at the movies for boys of a certain age (and their dads). Brokeback cowboys and other Jake G. freaks might also be well entertained. Everyone else, steer clear.

   Some professional critics proclaimed their disappointment with Robin Hood (another costume-action blockbuster released at the same time) due to its lack of tongue-in-cheek shenanigans. PoP, while plenty playful, proves no more substantial than concession-stand cotton candy. That doesn’t make it a bad movie, just a disappointing one. The sands of time won’t be kind.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Jake Gyllenhaal makes a decent enough hero, laid back and harmless in his way. He seems more boy than man however, a quality no doubt desirable to the kids in the audience. He’s fortunate to have the spunky Gemma Arterton to match up against, her fire and mental quickness contrasting nicely with his laconic poise. After showing off her comic chops in Pirate Radio, PoP’s princess now seems set to become a full fledged screen queen.

   Ben Kingsley never disappoints, here an oily courtier. Alfred Molina occasionally disappoints, and does so here as a boisterous huckster.

   Everyone else in the large cast proves forgettable.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

   Jake

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

   Gemma

7. Female Costars OK 2.5

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    OK 2.5

    The action scenes – with the now trite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon gravity defiance – quickly become redundant.

11. Direction Good 3.0

12. Play Barely OK 2.0

13. Music OK 2.5

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5

    The Persian cities were wondrous. The time travel shtick was cheesy.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.6

    Lots and lots of soldiers get killed, though nary a drop of blood is seen.

17. Sex Innocent 1.2

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Polite 1.5

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.8

    Forget the silliness, which is considerable. Prince of Persia’s most interesting reality angle is how the American pop culture machine has applied the Hollywood treatment to mythical Iranian history. One wonders how the Ayatollahs in the Islamic Republic are accepting this “gift” from the infidels?

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.9

23. Biological Fantasy 4.1

24. Physical Fantasy 4.5