-By Daniel Eagan

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Based on a best-selling 2003 videogame, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time updates “Arabian Nights” for a generation of joystick junkies. With Jake Gyllenhaal as a barely credible action hero, this effects-laden spectacle delivers just what it promises and no more. Well-crafted but not especially original, the film will need good word of mouth to stand up to the summer competition.

Opening titles helpfully inform viewers that ancient Persia ruled from China to the Mediterranean, but the focus of the film is on Alamut, a holy city that is backdrop to a power struggle played out with swordfights and explosions. Dastan (Gyllenhaal), an orphan adopted by King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), leads an invasion of the city with his brothers Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell). Framed for Sharaman's subsequent assassination, Dastan goes on the run with spunky Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), hoping to clear his name.

Learning that Tamina's magic dagger can reverse time, Dastan begins to suspect a conspiracy that could threaten all life on Earth. Seeking advice from his uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley), Dastan unwittingly sets into motion a three-way chase after the dagger. At stake: the "sand glass of the gods," or as Tamina describes it, "the beating heart of humanity."

The upshot is a series of battles against ever-changing opponents, including a knife-wielding African (Steve Toussaint), an assassin with pet vipers (Gisli Orn Gardarsson), and more armed guards than you can count. What distinguishes the film from the game? For one thing, a healthy respect for the fantasy genre and its rules and conventions. Writer Jordan Mechner doted on films when he created the series, and his affection for viziers, spells and intrigue really pays off.

Also, screenwriters Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard have given the characters recognizable motives and flaws. Supporting actors Coyle, Kebbell and Pickup all make strong impressions, Arterton banters gamely, and ageless Oscar-winner Kingsley adds some gravitas to the story. Alfred Molina, playing unscrupulous trader Sheikh Amar, brings the ham.

Hollywood has always turned to Middle Eastern fantasies to showcase special effects and promising starlets, as well as fling veteran performers into robes and mascara. Prince of Persia bears first and foremost the stamp of its producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. Production values are high, if not staggering; the main roles are sketched in quickly and memorably; action is of the nonstop, no-logic variety. Bruckheimer brought in parkour expert David Belle to help with the stunts, but blurry camerawork and jittery editing strip the fights of precision and excitement.

Still, the final result compares favorably to any Mummy or Scorpion King outing. Nevertheless, the film has been accumulating a string of mostly corrosive reviews, all of which will mean little to its target audience of gamers and action buffs. Should it be your destiny to see Prince of Persia, prepare to be linked across time to a long tradition of lucrative Hollywood hokum.