Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner says that one of the first things lost in translation from video game to film is gameplay. But the Prince of Persia film hopes to dodge that bullet with its action/adventure genre label.
You can see from the trailer just how much of that âaction/adventureâ thrust comes from what look like platforming puzzles writ large with Jake Gyllenhaal. Those of you that played the Sands of Time games, though, will be expecting a lot more than just jumping around. You want to see time-rewinding and sand monsters, donât you?
Well, too bad, says Mechner. To get the whole time-rewinding mechanic into the movie, some things had to be changed or cut completely.
âIn the movie, the [Dagger of Time]âs powers are much more limited,â he said. If theyâd left it the same, after all, the Prince would be omnipotent and the plot would get mighty boring.
So instead, there will be âconsequencesâ for using the Dagger and there wonât be sand monsters Jake Gyllenhaal fights to recharge it.
Sadly, Mechner wouldnât say what kind of, with whom there would be, or how many âboss fightsâ we could expect to see in the film. But he did say that producer Jerry Bruckheimer â that master of big, big action/adventure movies â knows what heâs doing when it comes to creating an experience that everybody including non-gamers will be into. And because itâs set in a sort of sub-genre of â1001 Arabian Nightsâ action/adventure, Prince of Persia the movie will probably go a long way toward appealing to the Pirates of the Caribbean-starved masses.
If only we could count on it to unseat Twilight. Alas, Iâm not seeing much chemistry between Gemma Arterton and Jake Gyllenhaal in the trailerâs banter snippets.
What do you make of the trailer?
P.S. No, Mechner didnât say anything about film sequels. However, he did say Ubisoft has something big planned to announce in conjunction with the filmâs marketing as the release date draws nearer. Dare we hope for a video game sequel?
