In 6th century Persia a young street urchin stands up to the authorities and comes to the attention of the king and his adviser, Nizam (Ben Kingsley). The boy is adopted into the king’s family and becomes Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), living royally alongside his adoptive brothers Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell).

An attack is led against the famed city of Alamut ruled over by the beautiful Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton). When the king is murdered Dastan is accused of the deed and he ends up teaming up with the princess in a quest to clear his name, and to rescue a prized Alamutian dagger, which, if it falls into the wrong hands, will give the owner the power to turn back time and rule the world. I didn’t have high hopes for this one, knowing that the movie is based upon a video game and that it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (known for popcorn action movies). But its director. Mike Newell has a few good films under his belt (Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings & A Funeral), and here he definitely rises to the challenge to bring us a big, entertaining, good looking film, even if the plot is a trifle convoluted and formulaic (think Raiders Of The Lost Ark, The Mummy crossed with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). I love deserts, camels and Middle Eastern music and since all these ingredients were there from the get-go I felt immediately disposed towards the film. Throw in the newly buffed, shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal and the stunning Arterton as a beautiful but strong woman and you’ve got enough entertainment and romantic intrigue right there. But then add the always entertaining Alfred Molina as Sheikh Amar, a sort of crazed desert nomad who organises ostrich races (I sure haven’t seen that on screen before!!) and the ever watchable Ben Kingsley and the film has plenty going for it. The main thread of credibility comes from the story of the rivalry between the brothers and the heinous double dealings over who really killed the king. The plot thread dealing with the dagger and the sands of time, even though it is part of the title, really gets a bit too involved, although the special effects when time is warped are really quite stunning. At other times the effects are rather too blatantly digital and the scenes of massed hordes charging have all been seen before and tend to become a bit ho-hum. There’s an odd modern sensibility which is a bit bizarre at times. Our hero does a lot of what looks like Crouching Tiger style of leaping and walking up walls but done in a way that I think owes more to the video game, so maybe that’s a plus for fans of the latter. There are also some rather fun references to the idea of a futile search for Weapons of Mass Destruction. The film carefully avoids blood and guts, despite endless battles, so this detracts from realism, but with the convolutions of the plot, one wonders what age group it is aimed at. But despite certain quibbles I found myself highly entertained on many levels and pleasantly surprised that there were a few more layers to the story than just the obvious.