“Prince of Persia” Rules Two Worlds

Our game expert on the worthiness of the big-screen "Prince of Persia" and game installment "The Forgotten Sands."

The story-within-a-story influence of “1001 Arabian Nights” and Flynn-styleswashbuckling were already in the SoT game. Newell adds a Saturday-morning serial vibe with tasteful bits of pomp, and the palace intrigues add some depth to what would otherwise be a point-A-to-point-B plot. There’s even a sly bit of political commentary. Against the backdrop of would-be WMDs, Alfred Molina’s desert hustler constantly grouses about taxes, and the third-act thugs are the Hashashin, a secret turbaned death squad that was supposed dissolved but was really kept around by Nizam.

Despite the provenance of its source material, the movie doesn’t have any doubts about its silver-screen worthiness. Indeed, there seems to be a subliminal understanding throughout of how to replicate some of the game’s signature elements and experiences. There’s clever use of some of the game tropes: camera fly-bys to show the puzzle-like environments where the action’s going to happen and early fight scenes have Gyllenhaal battling from one side of the screen to the other, just like in the side-scrolling structure of the earliest PoP games.

You can see Gyllenhaal’s Dastan scanning the parapets, ledges and gaps of the surroundings right before he sets off his acrobatic feats, just like a game-player would do in plotting a path from one end of the room to another. Dastan’s a cocky, man-of-the-people rogue who carouses and lives for the thrill (until things go bad), a characterization that echoes the glory-seeking Prince who set off trouble in the “Sands of Time” games. The time-rewinds that were those titles’ iconic mechanic get a dazzling special-effects interpretation and are used sparingly on-screen, making it far more special when they happen.

The assuredness of the game-into-film fusion probably comes from the fact that Mechner — who studied film at Yale during his game-making days and later directed the documentary “Chavez Ravine” — laid down the screenplay’s foundation and is on board as a producer. Overall, “Sands of Time” is a smarter-than-average popcorn flick with a great balance of earnestness and lightness that propels things forward, and it knows when to take itself seriously. It also deepens the time-and-destiny themes of the games and adds to the lore of the Prince. Usually, film adaptations of game properties leave so much behind in the journey to the projector booth.

Where the movie cannily calls back to the game franchise, “Forgotten Sands” succeeds by having almost nothing to do with its filmic cousin. The only possible influence is the introduction of brother Malik, whose kingdom the Prince visits to learn about the art of command. Once there, he watches Malik unleash a different set of magical granules that spawn an evil army that will overrun the Earth if left unchecked.

From a gameplay perspective, it grows away from the kind of action replicated in the movie. There’s chronal manipulation, yes, and those beautiful gymnastics, but “Forgotten Sands” grants the Prince a whole new set of skills. New powers let him command the elements: gusts of wind for combat and traversal, a fiery trail to burn enemies in swordfighting scrums, armor made of stone and the ability to turn water solid, making possible even more tricky jumps.

While the story isn’t as skillfully told as that of SoT, the themes about the consequences and abuse of power still show up. All of the new stuff makes it feel like the PoP franchise is evolving. That’s important to note. In a moment where Ubisoft’s Montreal studio could’ve hacked out a shallow tie-in game to ride the movie’s coattails, “Forgotten Sands” serves a true sequel to the previous trilogy that leaves players feeling re-invigorated about the Prince.

Thankfully, neither “Forgotten Sands” nor “Sands of Time” fumble the opportunity to succeed on their own and indirectly buff each other up in the process. Instead of the ham-fisted attempts at intellectual property synergy that typify this kind of entertainment — “SEE THE MOVIE! BUY THE GAME!” — the symbiosis between the new manifestation of PoP game is more oblique. The movie delivers an engaging romp that folds in game elements, and the game doesn’t try to tell a movie-level story and instead focuses on creating more smart gameplay action for its audience.

They get the most important thing right: presenting the same kind of fun in different forms with a knowledgeable implementation of themes and tone. No doubt, there ara more transmedia boondoggles coming down the pop culture transom. The movers and shakers that would make those deals happen should study “Prince of Persia”‘s double victory to see how to get the execution right.

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