Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

It’s a movie based on a video game. How much are you expecting from it? Remember Super Mario Bros.? Mortal Combat? Tomb Raider? Doom? This is a notch above, but just barely. Game creator Jordan Mechner served as a producer and storywriter, so it looks at times very much like a live-action video game, with improbable logic and impossible physics. The story is about video-game level as well. Really, all this movie lacks is a controller. Gemma Arterton is pretty hot.

Rotten Tomatoes.com: “It doesn’t offer much in the way of substance, but Prince of Persia is a suitably entertaining swashbuckler — and a substantial improvement over most video game adaptations.” – 39% (Rotten)

Entertainment Weekly: “As sword-and-sandal fantasy movies based on videogames and starring a buffed-up Jake Gyllenhaal go, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time goes pretty well.” – B

Random Thoughts: Meh. It was OK for what it was.

Robin Hood

I wasn’t particularly keen on seeing this, but my son and his buddy wanted to see both of these movies, and they played as a double feature at a local drive-in. I volunteered to drive.

About 90 minutes into it, they were ready to leave. I didn’t argue. We were not Merrie Men.

Rotten Tomatoes.com: “Ridley Scott’s revisionist take on this oft-told tale offers some fine acting and a few gripping action sequences, but it’s missing the thrill of adventure that made Robin Hood a legend in the first place.” – 44% (Rotten)

Entertainment Weekly: “As you meander through the dense, dark forest of high-minded murk that is Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, here are a few things that you won’t be seeing: a scene in which Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) steals from the rich and gives to the poor. A scene in which he dons a disguise to win an archery contest, or gets Friar Tuck to carry him across a stream, or leaves the Sheriff of Nottingham fulminating in his boots. A moment when Robin’s men behave in a way that could remotely be described as ”merry.” A rousing sword fight. A pinch of lightness, frivolity, comedy, adventure, or – wait, I think this is the word I’m searching for – fun.” – C-

Random Notes: Rent the Disney version instead.