By Mark HadleyMonday 24 May 2010MoviesReading Time: 2 minutes
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Rating: PG
Distributor: Disney
Release Date: May 27, 2010
Disney is grooming a successor for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and it seems like The Prince of Persia is the likely vehicle. For a fantasy adventure aimed at the tweens and teen fans of the long-running video game franchise, it ticks every box: star power (Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan; Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina), great special effects, and an excess of sword fighting and close-calls.
This film has been carefully edited of everything offensive in a manner that only Disney can manage, so there’s no fear taking younger viewers to see it. That said it also includes Disney’s own peculiar variety of religion. Disturbingly desert-based religions that violently proclaim the existence of only one truth are condemned in a sad, wistful way.
A priest from the holy city of Alamut looks down on the invading zealots and says, “Their faith has little love for any truth but its own.” Clearly in Disney’s relativistic world we’re supposed to disapprove of such an intolerant way to see the world. But sadly the ‘you have the right to believe whatever you want’ philosophy amounts to a fairly Mickey-Mouse religion. It may work on film, but in real life it comes apart the moment you try to cross a road anywhere you believe is right. Prince of Persia is a great romp but best to remind yourself it’s 100% fantasy.
The Back-Up Plan
Rating: M
Distributor: Sony
Release Date: May 20, 2010
This is ideally suited for a Generation X / Y audience given its attention to the challenges brought on by a dominant career, delayed child-bearing, and the strong ticking of the biological clock. Jennifer Lopez plays a single woman who has grown tired of waiting for the perfect man to arrive and has resorted to artificial insemination to give her the baby she so desires.
However a strange twist of fate sees her ideal partner arrive the same day she receives her pregnancy results. The Back-Up Plan demonstrates just how bad we can be at ordering our own lives, while challenging the presuppositions we bring to parenting. It represents relationships that are a world away from God’s family model yet at the same time showcases the loving adoption He offers to those who were never His natural children.