The Hopping Prince

 

 

 

“See something you like?”, asks the captive Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) coyly, as she hides the dagger that can reverse time, from our protagonist, the adoptive Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal). Very spunky and a little flirty, Tamina however does not steal the show from Prince Dastan, who pulls off the near-impossible – exposes a great treachery wrought upon his adoptive father King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), defeats the king’s treacherous sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and becomes the new regent of the kingdom. With no little help from the eponymous acrobatic skills of the Prince of Persia (The Sands of Time) and a little timely intervention from the dagger than can reverse time. Quite entertaining, and never a dull moment, this one went by almost unnoticed

 

12/20

True Colours

Pet chameleon Rango falls off his owner’s vehicle in the middle of the desert, and finds his thespian skills – well, all skills – tested to the hilt in the obscure desert town of Dirt. A series of serendipitous circumstances make the denizens of Dirt believe that they have a hero in Rango, who will solve their water problem and save the town. However, while Rango’s first few lucky exploits reinforce his reputation, luck soon runs out and he has to find his true calling – aided by the Spirit of the West – a Man with No Name (a spoof on Clint Eastwood and the likes and a moment of much hilarity among many in the movie), Rango returns to much distrust. But will Rango help provide not just water, but unravel the machinations of the unscrupulous as well? An all-star cast (albeit only in voice-over), hilarious characters (with the piece de resistance being the out-of-the-world hombre owl band - see above pix), laugh-a-minute jokes, and some serious storytelling included – this one is quite the exceptional animation movie. Too bad it is trailing Rio in the 2011 summer animation release sweepstakes

14.5/20