What Is Techno Again?

I adore the Prince of Persia games, so when talk comes to a movie adaptation, I whip out the armor and flaming swords and prepare to kick some ass. I can’t help being a defender of things I love—from superheroes to pixelated anti-heroes, I don the metaphorical warpaint when I learn that my beloved characters and mediums are being abused.

Okay, I didn’t hold my breath when I heard they were making a film based on The Sands of Time … and then died a little inside when I discovered they were making a terribly awkward casting choice: Jake Gyllenhaal as the darkly handsome and rebellious Prince.

Although imagining Gyllenhaal with shoulder-length hair, a serious demeanor in warrior armor, and general scruffiness tends to send me into fits of giggles, I have to admit that under that fangirl cloud (no, myself not included in the audience distortion of what is actually a respectable short story) of Brokeback Mountain, Gyllenhaal can actually be a worthy actor. After all, I fell in love with him in Donnie Darko—before the inevitable campfire-themed fan-fictions started cropping up on the interwebz.

So when I watched the freshly released trailer today, my expectations of cheesiness were grated with each passing frame. It actually impressed me … a lot. With the aid of the Disney and Bruckheimer powers that shaped the successful Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this thing can actually change the scene for video game-based flicks—if, of course, it’s as good as it looks. And man, I’m drooling already. But before you point out the Disney part of that prior sentence, keep in mind that the marketing and talent of Disney doesn’t mean they’re going to rip to shreds the spirit of the source. There have been good, and dark, Disney movies, and Sands of Time bears a PG-13 rating—not bad considering the video game installment by the same name is the most lighthearted, yet arguably the best, of the trilogy.