Script Review for Prince of Persia is out.

First Showing have a review of the full script of the Prince of Persia movie starring Jake Gyllenhall. It contains lots and lots of spoilers but it sounds pretty good. Here's a little on what they have to say about it.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time feels like it could be a great adventure story. There are plenty of amazing action sequences, a decent plot and some really fun time travel sequences. Think Pirates of the Caribbean action, Kingdom of Heaven setting, and a dash of Back to the Future. It's got a solid plot and is going to be really fun to watch. The characters are all believable and entertaining. The action is top notch. However, there are times when the writers decided to make Dastan do something completely unbelievable. Rather than thinking of how cool it would look, I was more inclined to roll my eyes at the absurdity of it all. These moments are rare and small blemishes on what I think is going to be an entertaining movie.

I am concerned that these moments may also resonate with other questionable choices being made for this film, notably the lead casting choice. In the script, Dastan is described as a lean and athletic Persian man. But starring as Dastan is the blatantly American Jake Gyllenhaal who, in leaked set pictures, looks less "lean and athletic" and more like he's been filling his eclairs with horse steroids. Personally, I can't see the hulking Gyllenhaal performing realistic wall running stunts and acrobatic flips. Are the filmmakers going for adventure fantasy or a rough historical epic adventure? This is the confusion that I think could pull audiences out of the story, which is sad because it's really a great story. It might not exactly be groundbreaking storytelling (in essence, an uncle kills a king to get the throne as a young prince struggles with it all - Hamlet anyone?), but it's damn good entertainment.

Disney has touted this film as the next Pirates of the Caribbean, and it very well could be. What Prince of Persia lacks in vividly memorable characters like Captain Jack Sparrow, it makes up for with tons of entertaining eye candy action. Free running sequences like those seen in the beginning of Casino Royale have become extremely popular, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is full of them. Just imagine the combination of free running and sword fighting (because sword fighting is always cool!) - if the stunt coordinators can make it look visceral and real, we've got a great treat on our hands. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is going to be fun, unbelievable at times, but very, very fun.

What do you think of the sound of that?

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