"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" was an excellent surprise. It was faithful to all of the best elements from the games except for the story, and that was a change for the better. The dagger was handled splendidly, coming into play only a few times. In the end, the best part of the movie was also the best part of the game's story, the relationship between the prince of persia and the captive princess.
That's right, a good video game movie. Its not totally faithful in terms of story, but then the story while more than I expected from that kind of game, would have been totally insufficient for this vehicle. All the same, it begins and ends in the same place. All that changes is that the apocalyptic event is a reality in the game, and in the movie it is what everyone is trying to prevent. (which means no sand zombies, but we've got snake ninjas which are also awesome stereotypes)
Also if you've played the game, then don't expect to get as many nods in terms of story as in the stunts. There's a scene where he kicks off against a wall while fighting someone with a spear, a scene where he runs along the wall, you get to see him "practice" the tumbling, he swings on those bars an awful lot, doing just about everything but wall-jumping.
Also to put more detail into the way the dagger came into play. In the game it was the chief gimmick, and unfortunately it turned out to be quite abusive. You'd think that such an awesome show of special effects would be irresistible to any director, particularly the team behind "Pirates of the Caribbean 3"... but it was only used a few times and they were consistently awesome. Whenever they came into a situation where you'd expect them to want to use it, they find some way to make sure that its not an option for the protagonist.
Now the main flaw in the movie is much the same with Pirates 3, basically you have to keep up because in some cases the direction is absolutely
nuts. And yet, it actually served to make the interaction between the two protagonists even MORE enjoyable.
So yeah, I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good action movie. It's not necessarily a classic, but it is the kind of movie that does not need to be.
And yes... you WILL think Altair if you're in the right mindset. If you've played Assassin's Creed and not PoP:Sands of Time, then to put it in perspective, its Assassin's Creed in Persia with a more mythological storyline. (both the game and the movie, although the game is a little bit more linear, though less repetitive and unfolds like Tomb Raider)