Three Short Film Reviews

Some movies I've seen recently.

Prince of Persia (2010)

Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time is a must see for any Parkour enthusiast. Apart from this niche audience, it seems that main audience for this film is teenage boys. It’s an action adventure with nice special effects and a princess with a full bosom. The acting is bearable, although the serious discrepancy in accents (all three the brothers have different accents?!) gets irritating at times. Nonetheless, a fun film if you don’t expect theatrical brilliance. The director, Mike Newell, also directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), one of the better Harry Potter films in my opinion, Donnie Brasco (1997) and the classic romantic-comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Playing the “Prince of Persia” is none other than a buffed up Jake Gyllenhaal, who acted as Heath Ledger’s bottom in Brokeback Mountain. The damsel in distress—or rather the bitchy princess—is played by Gemma Arterton, who also played in Clash of the Titans opposite Sam Worthington. I think I liked her better in Clash of the Titans. Apart from the Parkour scenes which I thoroughly enjoyed, it was also nice to see this computer game come to life. I remember playing Prince of Persia on my old XP PC, probably 20 or so years ago.

The Ghost Writer (2010)

I seldom watch thrillers but was curious about The Ghost Writer. A ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to turn the memoires of a former prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) into a best-selling autobiography. He soon finds out that he is to replace the previous ghostwriter who “accidently” drowned. Before long he finds himself entangled in more than he bargained for. The film does not rely on unbelievable twists to sell it like so many Hollywood films do. Rather, the mystery unfolds slowly, but with enough intrigue to keep the viewer engaged up until the very end. The director, Roman Polanski, is responsible for such classics as The Pianist (2002), Chinatown (1974) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). In recent years he has become better known for a sexual abuse case in which he allegedly drugged a thirteen year old girl. As far as I know, Pollanski is supposed to be under house arrest, so I’m not sure how he was able to direct this film. I think it may have been shot "on location"; meaning at Pollanski's own home. (Watch PajamaTV discuss Hollywood's "Free Pollanski" movement.)

Sword of the Stranger (2007)

A Japanese animation about a young boy and his dog being hunted by warriors from the Ming Dynasty. A reluctant sword fighter becomes involved and promise to help the boy to get to a certain Buddhist temple were he’ll be safe. The journey is a perilous one with lots of blood and violence. An enjoyable anime worth seeing by anime fans.