Just got home from watching the new Prince of Persia, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley. For a movie based on a video game, it was decently entertaining. I think it helped that I went in with loooooooooow expectations. Apart from the fact that it’s based on a video game (there aren’t very many video games that have made a good transition to the screen), it also had Jake Gyllenhaal (who’s a great actor) doing a British accent. You could tell it was based on the game, from the wall-leaping to the sand-dagger-rewind-trick.
But I guess what disturbed me (in addition to the wobbly British accent–why are Persians speaking with English accents?! Better than American, I suppose–and the often-clunky dialogue and paper-thin plot) was the fact that it’s a movie set in Persia (modern-day Iran), with leads who are white (Ben Kingsley’s part-Gujarati Indian so he gets a pass). Like I said, Jake’s a great actor, and Gemma is beautiful, but … really?
How about Sarah Shahi (below)?
Plus, among the previews were The Last Airbender and The Karate Kid. From Avatar’s Wikipedia entry: “Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation.” So, naturally, you have young Noah Ringer playing the lead Asian character (Aang). And seriously, if you want to remake TKK but you change the form of martial arts and set it in China, maybe you should rename it to The Kung Fu Kid, since one is Japanese and the other is Chinese. Sigh … racebending gets me all het up.
P.S. On the way out, Ryan and I were overrun by a stampede of X-chromosomes on their way to Sex and the City 2. Seriously, not a guy in sight.
Your review just put me off Prince of Persia and The Karate Kid. My best option now is Shrek, which will probably be great (the same quality as the first 3?), hopefully!