Earlier this week, Disney and OnePR treated games journalists to the first-ever screening of the Prince of Persia film trailer. That's right, a screening for a film's trailer, not the film itself. The reason for the build-up, from what I gathered, isn't so much about the fact that it's a Disney film as the fact that there still hasn't been a video game movie done entirely right. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has set his sights high for this one, and if the trailer's any indication, by the looks of things (as well as the price tag) Prince of Persia makes a strong case to break the mold.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, former Bond Girl Gemma Arterton and Alfred Molina, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a big budget action-adventure film based on the 2003 video game of the same name. The trailer lays the groundwork for the basic premise of the film, wherein Gyllenhaal's character discovers a dagger which allows the holder to reverse the flow of time. The awesomely-executed rewind effect is showcased several times in the two-minutes-and-change trailer, but without resorting to cheap gaming mimicry.
A glowing fiery vortex seems to exist within the Dagger of Time, and at the end of the trailer the Prince and another character appear to actually be inside the Dagger, swirling around the vortex. A climactic boss fight? Very possible.
Fans of the video game will be pleased with the game-like effects that are used, including Gyllenhaal's jumping from ledge to ledge like you do in the game, as well as collapsing floors. When Gyllenhaal uses the dagger, the Sands of Time begins to infiltrate his body as they swirl around his arm, digging into his bloodstream. The effects aren't cheap or gratuitous, and the Indiana-Jones-meets-Pirates-of-the-Caribbean flavor seems right on the mark for adventure-seeking moviegoers and gamers alike.
Of course, there's the love interest - Princess Tamina, played by the lovely Gemma Arterton - who exchanges PG-rated flirtations with the Prince, and a bit of comic banter between the two suggests a fun spirit amidst the daggers and danger, filmed in the beautiful desertscapes of Morocco.
If you want to see the trailer for yourself, it runs with the premiere of 2012 on November 13. But enjoy the game while you can, because by the looks of it, Prince of Persia the movie is going to up the ante in a big way.
