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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a review by Dragonfire

Movies based on video games have a bad reputation in general.  Some of it may be warranted...Super Mario Brothers was a huge mess, but others have been decent movies I think.  So I was interested in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time when I saw the trailers.

As a child, Dastan does something that impresses the King, who decides to adopt the orphan even though he already has two sons, Tus and Garsiv.  15 years later, the brothers are leading the army against enemies of Persia.  Nizam, the brother of the King is also with the brothers and he seems to be a sort of advisor to Tus.  Nizam has information that Alamut, a holy city, has been making weapons for Persia's enemies.  Tus decides to attack the city.  Dastan doesn't agree with the decision, but he does his part, managing to gain access to the city with less casualties.  The King arrives after the battle, only to be murdered with Dastan blamed.  Dastan goes on the run with Tamina, the princess of the city.  Dastan then discovers that the dagger he got during the battle has the ability to turn back time.  He wants to use the dagger to prove his innocence while Tamina is determined to protect the dagger and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

I have never played any of the Prince of Persia video games, so I have no idea how much of the plot is pulled from the game and how much is created just for the movie.  I do think the plot is interesting and works for an action movie.  There is a little bit of mystery tied to who is really behind the death of the king, but it doesn't take much to figure everything out.  Some of what happens is more predictable, which will probably disappoint some viewers.  I think the movie is still fun and entertaining overall even with the predictability.  There is a good amount of action in the movie provided from the various fights that Dastan gets into.  He also does a lot of running and jumping with some acrobatic moves as well.  The violence isn't that graphic or extreme.  A bit of humor turns up every so often, mostly from Sheik Amar, a sort of criminal guy who runs fixed ostrich races.

The characters are fine, though none of them are developed that much.  There are hints of romance between Dastan and Tamina even though not much related to that is shown.  Both of them shown a bit of skin in a few scenes, though there is no nudity.  Dastan looks really good without his shirt.  The cast all does well with their parts.  Dastan is different from the other parts I've seen Jake Gyllenhaal play. 

The plot could have been a bit stronger and the character development could have been better, but the movie works as a fun adventure type action movie.  It works as a mindless action movie.



I did get a review posted on Epinions.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

(From Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on June 11th, 2010)

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths , a review by Dragonfire

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths My Thoughts This one deals with one of the many alternate Earths that DC has created.  I don't know a lot about all that other than that the characters on the other worlds are at least somewhat different.  This movie deals with a version of Earth that is pretty much an opposite from the world where the Justice League is.  Lex Luthor is good and the alternate versions of the superheroes re villains that are part of a crime organization.  I think the story is interesting, though the plot could have been fleshed out a bit more.  There is more attention given to the numerous fights.  The fights don't blend together as much as the ones in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies did.  Even with all the fighting, the violence didn't seem as strong as it has been in some of the other DC animated movies. There are a lot of characters in the movie, and most of them aren't developed that much.  Owlman and Superwoman receive the most attention and they are interesting characters.  The voice cast all does well with the voices of the characters.  The animation is done well.  Things - including characters - do have a slightly different look.  The movie has been released on DVD and Blu-ray.  There is a first look at the next DC animated movie, Batman Under the Red Hood which looks interesting.  There are also looks at some of the previous DC animated movies.  There is a featurette on the second disc that I haven't taken the time to watch yet. I enjoyed this movie and think it is worth watching for people who like superhero movies.  People who have enjoyed the previous DC animated movies should give this one a chance. I would have rated this one 3.5 stars at Epinions if I had the option.  Since I didn't, I decided to round up to 4. I did post a review on Epinions. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

(From Dragonfire88's Alphabet Marathon on July 15th, 2010)

Angel Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

4. Hell Bound
Original Air Date: 10/22/2003
Fred tries to build a transformation device that will turn Spike back into a corporeal being and prevent a ghost called "The Reaper" from dragging him into Hell.

Guest Stars:
Sarah Thompson
Simon Templeman
Dorie Barton
Willow Greer

My Thoughts:
Another awesome episode. I enjoyed every minute of it! I liked how they did all the ghosts in the basement. And of course the big fight scene for Spike.

My Rating:

(From Angel Marathon on March 22nd, 2010)