Prince of Persia Picspam
*non-spoilery. Really, it's just a bunch of pretty pictures of action shots and them posing in ways that make the rest of humanity drool.
Non-spoilery thoughts, because I mainly just fangirl: Okay, seriously, this movie deserves much love. The number of things I loved about it? By and large outweigh any rational reason. First, Jake Gyllenhaal and a subcategory all on its own - his arms. Jebus, this guy worked out like hell and got a rockin' bod. You compare him with his last few films, and the differences are amazing. Also, I've always liked his acting and here, he fit the bill exactly for what he needed to show. Flippant, sarcastic, with just a touch of that boy-next-door lovableness that I always liked about Jake. (Except, y'know, the boy next door is freakin' hawt. Did I mention that part already? I feel like it needs to be said several times.)
Speaking of hawtness, hello Gemma Arterton (Princess Tamina)! After watching the movie, I went and did some research on this girl. She was most recently in Clash of the Titans, in a role much similar to this one. But I didn't realize that at the time I was watching Clash, and I remembered thinking I wasn't all too found of the girl. But I loved Tamina here! The difference? Tamina has spunk. She snarks, quips, teases, and outsmarts practically everyone in this film. Especially Dastan. And another thing I liked, and I realize I might be alone in this, but it was very refreshing to see this girl not have to be Xena, warrior princess version 2.0. She knew sorta how to handle a sword, but not against Hassansins and stuff - and yet, she wasn't a Damsel in Distress. Her wits and quips were definitely her choice of weapon.
And speaking of that, the UST/Snark between Dastan and Tamina really made the entire freakin' film for me. I forgave all mistakes of the film because of that. (Um, don't go in looking for anything remotely historically accurate in this story.) I, like many others, was shipping this couple from the trailers alone. I'm so glad the movie lived up to its potential that way. And the peeps over at dastan_tamina are already rockin' with post-movie fics and fanart and I just love that to itty-bitty pieces.
And the secondary cast! Sheik Amar and Seso, the other Princes Tus and Garsiv, and honorable mention: the ostriches. Yeah, that's right: racing ostriches. Tax-free, baby. Booya.
Pimping: dastan_tamina
* Spoilers may pop up in comments!