I remember sitting in front of my aunt's computer playing Prince of Persia. Back then, it was my favourite. It was during those days when the rage were games like Beer Tapper, Karateka and Jungle Hunt. Coincidentally, Prince of Persia was the creation of the same man who came up with Karateka, Jordan Mechner. Ah, those were good times all around.
When I got my Nintendo Wii, one of the first games I got was Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time. The game enthralled me back when it ran on Windows 3.1 and it continues to enthrall when I'm swinging my Wiimote around as a sword. So, at the time news hit that there was going to be a movie made out of this particular series of the game, I swore I would watch it. Then I heard Jake Gyllenhaal was attached to play Dastan, I was even more determined to see it.
I finally managed to watch the movie and I honestly loved it. I saw the reviews that billed this as a mindless yet enjoyable hour and forty five minutes of a totally beefed-up, leather-clad Jake Gyllenhaal running around trying to save the world from power-mad Ben Kingsley whose quest to own the ultimate weapon would lead to an armageddon-sized, earth-wiping sandstorm. And it is all that and more. There were underlying themes of loyalty, family, brotherhood, integrity, all good virtues that could be fitted in seeing as this is a Disney movie. I thought it was highly entertaining.
What I didn't quite understand was what people, namely movie critics, were expecting from this movie. And why most reviews tried to attach some political connotations by likening the seige on Alamut with America's war on terror. Does every movie made really need to be associated with events based in reality? Isn't one of the main reasons for watching a movie escapism? Why do we need to find/define parallels between what is going on in the world with that on our screens? It's fiction, pure and simple. Let's just enjoy it for what it is.
