I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can return some link love for all those critics/blogs that I love to read.  Since I love reading reviews of films that I’ve seen what I’ll do is each week whatever new release that I review here I will post what I think the General Consensus of the movie is by posting short snippets of many reviews here.  Check it out below:

So here’s how this is going to work.  Since I want to create an average score for the film (like my own blogosphere only version of RT or IMDB) I will only count reviews that have a rating.  If your rating is letter graded then I will convert it using High School style grades (i.e. A = 9/10, B = 8/10, C = 7/10, D = 5/10, F = 3/10).  I’ll definitely mention other, non-scaled reviews, but they won’t be calculated into the overall General Consensus.

Directed by: Mike Newell

Written by: Boaz Yakin & Doug Miro

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton & Alfred Molina

Release Date: May 28 (US), May 28 (JA)

Reviews

Not Rated Reviews

“The film has a great adventurous spirit to it, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Dustan does a great job embodying that spirit with a surprizing physical combination of stealth and agility (aka parkour), making him a bit of a bruiser as well as being someone who can sneak around. It’s also a character that is easy to love, being someone true of heart and also a bit of a troublemaker.” – Shannon the Movie Moxie.

“Should your film tastes lay somewhere between the cynical and the “turn off your brain and grab some popcorn” camps, then you might even be pleasantly surprised by Prince of Persia.” – Peter Hall from Cinematical.

“A rather curious allusion to the Iraqi invasion – when Dastan and co. similarly invade a city to uncover weapons of mass destruction which turn out not to be there – will no doubt be debated to death as Prince of Persia unspools for critics, but what we’re ultimately left with here is a rather curious beast. In parts this is a wholesome and enjoyable action adventure, with plenty to admire. It’s certainly much improved on this summer’s earlier effort, Clash of the Titans, and it seems well-placed to start up a franchise that might turn out to be a little more disciplined in its second outing.” – from Cinematical.

Rated Reviews

“Above it all the film does perpetuate the fact that without an engaging screenplay everything falls apart. I’m not asking for Casablanca, just something that doesn’t make us feel like zombies while we watch the pretty colors fly by.” – Jordan Raup from The Film Stage. Grade: 4.5/10

“Yes, maybe if I paid too much attention to Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley and Gemma Arterton’s horrible acting then I definitely would be horribly annoyed.  But I think the same thing applies to films like The Mummy (1999) but just like that movie it ended up working for me.” – me from here.  Grade: 6.5/10

“Much of your enjoyment of this movie will hinge on whether or not you find the bickering between Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton entertaining. I thought Arterton was somewhat uninteresting in Clash of the Titans, but here she has the fiery disposition that every Indiana Jones love interest has ever had.” – Sean from FilmJunk. Grade: 7.5/10

“Prince of Persia is just a mild diversion, though. If you’re just tooling around with no particular destination, it might be worth getting off the freeway this holiday weekend, but it’s really not worth going out of your way to see it; it’s just another big ball of yarn in between rest stops.” – from Get The Big Picture. Grade: 4/10

“I’m honestly thrilled to report that Disney knew what they were doing when the made this movie. This film pretty much exemplifies the kind of thrill ride you want when you want to catch a fun summer movie.” – Dave from ScreenGeeks. Grade: 7.5/10

“It has that jaunty, good-natured vibe, where there’s a lot of adventure and the fate of the world is supposedly at stake, but no one’s ever too serious and the characters never seem to be in great peril. It’s the kind of roller-coaster movie where an army of assassins firing arrows at the hero is fun, not dangerous.” – Eric D. Snider from Film.com. Grade: C+(7.5/10)

“All of the jumping, hand-to-hand battling and swash-buckling is done over the top, and it makes for a fun ride. That is, if you can overlook the fact that it’s all juiced up by CGI — and not in a way that makes it blend naturally into the film’s dirty aesthetic. But in a way that is often cartoonish — perhaps even video game-ish. In a sense, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell have honored the video game by delivering action that looks one-step removed from the graphics of your Playstation 3.” – Neil Miller from Film School Rejects. Grade: C+(7.5/10)

“What all that money doesn’t buy is a workable script (there are four credited writers with at least two more providing material) that is in the least bit coherent, punchy, or emotionally engaging.” – Drew from The Playlist. Grade: D(5/10)

“The irritating thing about special effects is that anything can happen, and often you can’t tell what the hell it is. Dastan, for example, seems to fall into a vast sinkhole as the sand is sucked from beneath him at dizzying speed. Exactly how he is saved of this predicament isn’t exactly clear.” – Roger Ebert. Grade: 5/10

“The biggest problem with all of this is the lack of climactic moments. The film flat lines the whole way through and the only reason the trailers even promise any kind of action is because they are able to condense a few promising action sequences only to have you learn they go nowhere inside the actual film.” – Brad Brevet from Rope of Silicon. Grade: D+ (6/10)

“Audiences just looking for a fun popcorn movie that the entire family can watch will probably enjoy it. I would say any kids except the littlest ones (6 and under or so) would be OK with the film, which while almost completely bloodless can be quite violent and the Hassansin are pretty creepy.” – Vic Holtreman from Screenrant. Grade: 5/10

“You can’t blame the film for wanting to deliver as much as possible of what people are really there to see. However, the film’s action sequence presentation and construction make the sequences come off more repetitive, instead thrilling. The film’s visual style captures the mayhem, but doesn’t have fun showing it (there are some unimpressive slo-mo shots used, but they are definitely not enough).” – Rusty Gordon from Gordon and the Whale. Grade: 4/10

“The movie is awful and doesn’t have one redeeming aspect.  It’s Pirates of the Caribbean if Pirates of the Caribbean was dull, moronic, lazy, and starred characters you hated.  Oh, and also had a nice smattering of racism thrown in for flavor.” – Matt Goldberg from Collider. Grade: F (3/10)

Avg. Score: 5.6/10