Based on a hugely successful video game franchise, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the latest Disney film that tries to capture the magic of Pirates of the Caribbean. Although all the components appear to be in place, does the finished product deliver as promised?

Set in a fictional period in time, a royal family from Persia sets out to conquer a nearby kingdom. Lead by a benevolent king, it is the three princes that go to war with first in line Prince Tus (Richard Coyle) taking advice from his uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) as to the best way of proceeding. The headstrong Garsiv (Kebbell) is by their side whilst roguish outsider Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) follows his own path into the city of Alamut which is home to the beautiful princess Tamina (Arterton). With the armies of Persia occupying the city the search for weapons begins as the King arrives… but he is soon attacked and Dastan, the adopted son, is blamed. He is forced to flee with the Princess who has in her possession a weapon of unimaginable power, and one that everyone wants to get their hands on.

Can Dastan clear his name, find the person responsible for the attacks and resist the temptation in front of him?

It’s no secret that the main weapon in question is a dagger that offers up Time-Travel. It’s part of the game (in recent incarnations anyway) and plays an important part in the film. It’s also the biggest weakness in an otherwise enjoyable romp as it gives us the overused and utterly tedious option of seeing events played out over and over again… thus eliminating most of the dramatic moments as any on screen death can be reversed.

The film relies on Jake and Gemma working as a couple, and they do this to wonderful effect. Although he is playing Dastan very much ‘down the middle’, she has a lot of fun making Tamina a strong and powerful character. It’s clear that Disney want a more matinee feel to this adventure and whereas Jack Sparrow was allowed to stroll in and out of sequences in the Pirates films, here Dastan is a convention old-school hero… complete with English accent.

The ‘wacky’ outsider is Alfred Molina’s Sheik Amar who goes completely over the top as a bandit who has a heart of gold. It’s annoying when such a character is played out from the sidelines, he should either be in the central role or at least have something substantial to do, otherwise it just feels like a tacked on after-thought. In fact it would have been great to see Nizam played in this more maniacal fashion rather than the cold and calculating villain we get in the end. Kingsley is great as ever, but the character demands very little from him and the result is sometimes flat especially when confined to talking scenes rather than action.

And here is another mild disappointment. Mike Newell does very well in moving the story on at a pace, but the ‘epic’ scale of the film appears to be missing. There should be bigger battles and more fun made of the vast vistas. To be fair the scenery throughout is stunning and you get the sense of size from those shots but we would be better served with this being better populated with battles.

Overall Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a well made adventure romp. It deviates from the game series quite a lot (which it needs to) but sticks fairly close to Hollywood convention in the process. The two leads have excellent chemistry and will keep you interested throughout even if the rest of the film isn’t quite up to standard.