Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

Dastan Prince of Persia.

As if remakes in general aren’t bad enough what about a remake of a 2003 video game? Shot on location in Morocco and at Pinewood studios. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010) is set in the sixth century and is about a magical dagger with powers to turn back time and of course if it fell into the wrong hands could evoke world shattering chaos!!! The villain of the piece is the Persian Kings brother, played with some style by Sir Ben Kingsley. Using all the standard text book villainy he gets hold of the dagger which is known as the Sands of Time. The only person capable of defeating this tyrant and saving the world is the Kings adopted son Dastan assisted by the plucky Princess Tamina.

The two main leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton, are totally unconvincing as Dastan and his eastern princess who is lacking even the slightest hint of a suntan! It’s a cross between a very bad remake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Spider Man’s outtakes. Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005) directs this tolerably entertaining swashbuckler, but don’t expect any real substance or depth.