Sandiest Movie Ever!

Video game based movies are something that I have rarely seen, and I find that it is always difficult to capture the same feeling that one has when playing a game of the same title when it is made into film. For example Super Mario Bros., which appeared on the scene in 1993, was intended to be a movie that brought beloved game elements and characters to life, but is better remembered as either a flop or (as in my case) one of the most excellent parodies in existence. While this was unintentional, it tends to happen, simply because the experience is so incredibly different. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010) directed by Mike Newell manages to capture some of the experience of playing the games, but also has its limitations.
For example, even though the Prince "Dastan" (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) does some amazing feats of flipping through the air, and dexterously fighting with two blades, setting clever traps for his enemies, and climbing rapidly along walls and across the roofs of buildings, he still doesn't spend as much time in the air as the Prince from the game does...not even close. At least in the newest game, the Prince barely spends any time on the ground at all, using a metal claw to scrape his way along walls and cling onto poles. While the amazing feats of the Prince were impressive in the film beyond a doubt, it felt like something was missing. Because this movie was naturally bound with the laws of physics, it couldn't completely capture that magical element of the Prince of Persia game series.
As far as the characters were concerned, they were all portrayed very well. Jake was a dashing and mischievous prince, and Ben Kingsley did a fantastic job being the main villain of the story. I had no idea Kingsley could wear eye liner so well. Alfred Molina served the part of comedy relief and provided plenty of ostrich jokes, which while amusing, were also almost nauseatingly frequent. But it's a Disney film, those kinds of antics are sort of to be expected by now. The only character I had issue with, and really out of no fault of her own, was Tamina played by Gemma Arterton. Her voice was high pitched and vastly annoying, and I could barely listen to her speak. I found myself wishing many times throughout the film that she would just....get left behind or get lost or something, just to spare myself from her witty and high-pitched banter.
The environments were rich and varied, and everything had such a wonderful golden old-world feeling. It seemed like every environment was just covered with riches and cloth, and it was quite the appealing backdrop for a desert adventure story. There was enough sand in it to easily rival The Mummy which was the film that I always believed would be the sandiest movie I have ever seen. Turns out that Prince of Persia is also the Prince of Sandy.
Overall, I liked this film. It was fun and packed with adventure and action, and I always enjoy that kind of thing. I wasn't overly impressed, but I certainly enjoyed myself!
I give this one 3 out of 5 Staryus.