"Jake Gyllenhaal is a welcomed but big surprise as Dastan!"

Video game adaptations don't have a great track record; from the abysmal Doom, to the more passable Resident Evil and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider so you'll be forgiven if you thought this would be more of the same. Well in short, it's not, far from it, with the involvement of creator Jordon Mechner and the film making team of Jerry Bruckheimer (Producer) and Mike Newall (Director) they have successfully brought the popular video game to the big screen, much in the same way as Jerry Bruckheimer brought Pirates Of The Caribbean to the big screen. What we have here is an epic, action packed, swash buckling, adventure film, that harks back to classic adventure films like Lawrence Of Arabia. It has plenty of homage to the games to make fans happy and a solid introduction to the rest of us without having to be intimately familiar with the source material.

The cast is pure eye candy, Gemma Arterton seems to go from strength to strength, she's engaging and beautiful as the strong pure hearted Princess Tamina. Sir Ben Kingsley turns out another fantastic performance as the villainous Nizam, and Alfred Molina is amusing as Sheik Amar. Jake Gyllenhaal is a welcomed but big surprise as Dastan! For an actor that is known for dramatic roles like Donnie Darko, he shows tremendous prowess as an action hero and nails the British accent. After bulking up for the role we see him jump across rooftops and fight sword battles spectacularly.

The action scenes are entertaining and well executed, the score fits the world they have created and the landscapes are breathtaking. The only disappointing part I found was with some visual effects, the CGI isn't as photo-real or as polished as it could have been, however, these effects are few and far between and don't distract from the plot.

All in all, Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is a welcomed addition to the video game come film mantra, it sets itself above the others by delivering a fresh and fun film that is easily accessible by the masses. It doesn't try to be too clever, and certainly doesn't take itself too seriously.