AKA The Recital, and Prince of Persia
Piano recital: Over and done with!
I don't even know why I agreed to join this summer's recital. I always get nervous and panicky onstage, I overanalyze/stare too long at my piece and start to forget the notes, I play too fast (not that the audience notices)... *sigh* Seems like live performance is not my thing.
Prince of Persia: Flat like a map. I haven't played any of the games (yet), so I don't know how well it did as an adaptation. But from an average movie-goer's point of view, I'd recommend you skip it and spend your money on something else.
Its premise, characters and mythology, by themselves, are fascinating and certainly belong in a summer blockbuster, but the presentation and execution of these elements were regrettably lackluster. The actors did well enough with what little has been given to them (hello Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Jake Gyllenhaal, among others) and the special effects were nicely done. However, they weren't enough to compensate for the weird pacing, spotty writing and cardboard conversation.
The explanation for the Mystical Item and World Magic is muddled (as in, difficult to hear and understand). Listen as hard as you can when that part comes in, and maybe enlighten me on what the whole Sand magic shebang really had to do with the apocalypse (I didn't catch it). The characters feel hollow, vaguely sympathetic at best. Your two leads have no chemistry at all, and though they fire one-liners at each other like the love-hate couple they're supposed to be, you can't feel anything from them. It's as if those bits of dialogue were thrown in out of necessity and nothing more. Also: HASSANSINS. As in, a group of secret shadowy fighters hired to kill. Y'know, like assassins. Yeah. So not making that up.
But for all its flaws, it has its good moments too. Try to figure out who the real villain is before the second half of the movie - see if you can spot the red herring early on. There's a lot of fighting and wall-traversing/parkour. Also, the parts approaching the climax definitely get your heart racing (the throne room scene is my favorite), and Alfred Molina's merchant just shines here.
Overall, it's like a piece of furniture whose concept goes really well with your idea of a beautiful home, but the workmanship is so bad you just have to drop it like a hot potato.
I don't even know why I agreed to join this summer's recital. I always get nervous and panicky onstage, I overanalyze/stare too long at my piece and start to forget the notes, I play too fast (not that the audience notices)... *sigh* Seems like live performance is not my thing.
Prince of Persia: Flat like a map. I haven't played any of the games (yet), so I don't know how well it did as an adaptation. But from an average movie-goer's point of view, I'd recommend you skip it and spend your money on something else.
Its premise, characters and mythology, by themselves, are fascinating and certainly belong in a summer blockbuster, but the presentation and execution of these elements were regrettably lackluster. The actors did well enough with what little has been given to them (hello Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Jake Gyllenhaal, among others) and the special effects were nicely done. However, they weren't enough to compensate for the weird pacing, spotty writing and cardboard conversation.
The explanation for the Mystical Item and World Magic is muddled (as in, difficult to hear and understand). Listen as hard as you can when that part comes in, and maybe enlighten me on what the whole Sand magic shebang really had to do with the apocalypse (I didn't catch it). The characters feel hollow, vaguely sympathetic at best. Your two leads have no chemistry at all, and though they fire one-liners at each other like the love-hate couple they're supposed to be, you can't feel anything from them. It's as if those bits of dialogue were thrown in out of necessity and nothing more. Also: HASSANSINS. As in, a group of secret shadowy fighters hired to kill. Y'know, like assassins. Yeah. So not making that up.
But for all its flaws, it has its good moments too. Try to figure out who the real villain is before the second half of the movie - see if you can spot the red herring early on. There's a lot of fighting and wall-traversing/parkour. Also, the parts approaching the climax definitely get your heart racing (the throne room scene is my favorite), and Alfred Molina's merchant just shines here.
Overall, it's like a piece of furniture whose concept goes really well with your idea of a beautiful home, but the workmanship is so bad you just have to drop it like a hot potato.