Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina, Toby Kebbell Director: Mike Newell Despite constant reminders over the months of publicity leading up to the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I'm here to tell you that Disney's newest summer blockbuster is not actually a movie about Jake Gyllenhaal's abs. Yes, the actor looks good and, with the help of Jerry Bruckheimer, treats us to some of the most fun-to-watch chase scenes since Jason Bourne was last on screen. As far as multi-million dollar realizations of pre-automatic-weapon video games involving mostly running and jumping with the occasional sword fight go, its romp through a dessert obstacle course is one that thrills. And while it may lean toward the cheesy side and fail to deliver characters or a story anywhere near as interesting as the breakthrough Pirates of the Caribbean movies that some have anticipated Prince of Persia might resemble, Prince of Persia is a fun enough ride with a simple story that rings true. However, while Prince of Persia's action sequences made me want to run out of the theater and see if I could make it all the way back to my car via rooftop, what Prince of Persia also reminded me of is that to keep running over those roofs, to get up after every fall, and to keep fighting even when it seems like there is nowhere else to go, you need a reason. In Prince of Persia, part of the reason Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal) keeps running is that there people after him. Another reason he runs up walls and jumps across rooftops is that there is something he is after. But while it may be a magic dagger which continues to both keep a band of assassins hot on Dastan's trail as well as keep him headed toward the only place where the dagger will be safe, what keeps Dastan running is not the dagger itself but rather what the dagger is all about. Able to turn back time for whoever holds it, the dagger not surprisingly has pretty much everyone who knows about its magic properties after it. As we see while Dastan holds it in his possession, it comes in pretty handy when, say, a beautiful princess decides to pull a fast one on him or a brood of venomous snakes suddenly springs up unannounced. However, just as the dagger can be used as a tool of salvation, it can also be a tool of destruction. And as the full power behind the dagger is further revealed, in it we see not just the potential to change one event or one life, but the ability to completely wipe out all life and history as we know it. The truth is, in most hands, the dagger is a tool for nothing more than selfish gain. Dastan saves his own life. Dastan saves his own life again. Those who seek to take the dagger from Dastan seek to go back and change a few things, maybe get rid of a few people, so that they can have the life they want. However, as the stakes rise, we see that there are those who are also willing to use the dagger to save someone other than themselves, a few who even go so far as to offer their own lives if it means that others may live. With the ability to both erase life as well erase death, the dagger is like the video game staple of at least one or two extra lives to spare. The difference is that rather than a guaranteed second or third chance, the second chance at life which the dagger offers is one that often depends on the choice of another. In fact, central to the dagger's existence as any sort of contained force at all is the sacrifice of an "innocent" in place of pretty much all humanity. In its set up, the dagger becomes the cross which transforms the power of its magic sand from that of Noah's flood to Jesus Christ's forgiveness. Both have the power to reach across time and change lives forever; the only difference is that one destroys everything in its path while the other destroys only sin that life may continue on. Throw Dastan in the picture as not only a man pulled into the task of making sure the dagger might be a force of good not evil, but one who has already been affected by its original creator's/caretaker's choice to save rather than destroy, and we are given ourselves. As we watch Dastan run and jump not merely to get to some next level or amass a certain number of points, the picture we are given is that of a man who runs with a purpose and with the knowledge that each leap he makes and corner he rounds is in the pursuit of something of value. It is the same notion Paul presents when he describes the race of life in 1 Corinthians 9: 24-26. "Run in such a way as to get the prize," Paul tells the Corinthians. "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air." You might even say it is the story etched in Gylenhaal's abs, one which testifies to the fact that the actor saw a value in the part he was playing and the story he was telling worth training his body to be able to convey its power. But about more than just having something to run toward, we also see in the story that much of Dastan's motivation comes from having a reason to run and fight in the first place. As his father, the King of Persia, tells him at the beginning of the movie, "The bond between brothers is the sword that defends our empire." And while there are those who do not honor that bond, for Dastan, it is the reason for almost all he does. Interestingly enough, Dastan is not actually a blood son of the king, but an orphan the king adopted as a child and loved as his own son from then on. While Dastan demonstrates an already present sense of brotherly loyalty at the beginning of the movie when he steps up to defend another orphan from injustice, put in the place of a prince, he is tasked with recognizing an even greater body of people as his brothers. But reminded of the love his father showed him even when he was nothing more than a filthy child of the street, Dastan, too, chooses to recognize all of humanity as his brothers and rise up to show them all that same love his father has always shown him. And as Prince of Persia comes to a close, we are left with the message that with great love also comes the ability to love greatly... and in doings so, to harness the greatest power ever known.
