Ever since we heard there was going to be a Prince of Persia movie, we were put in mind of Pirates of the Caribbean: a concept familiar to everyone, but with little or no actual story behind it (here, swap theme park ride for platform video game). Funnily enough, the connection is not solely superficial: like Pirates, this is a Disney affair produced by Hollywood big-hitter Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop; Top Gun; Con Air; Pearl Harbour). And aye, there’s the rub: we suspect Prince will inherit all of Pirates’ problems, without its sole saviour to rescue it. Really – would we all have flocked to watch ghost pirates and bland romantic match Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom were it not for Johnny Depp’s left-field lunacy as Captain Jack?

Like Pirates, Prince is saddled with a storyline that appears to have been cooked up in a blind panic, as though someone realised they’d forgotten to concoct a plot just as the cameras started to roll. It involves some guff about a mystical dagger that, when a ruby on the handle is clicked, sends the possessor of the dagger a minute back in time. (Expect the plastic, non-time-shifting model in Toys R Us any day now). There wasn’t a press screening before we went to print, but from the trailer it seems the kitsch extends beyond this to the sets, costumes and cheesy banter between prince in question Jake Gyllenhall and feisty princess Tamina, played by Brit up-and-comer Gemma Arterton.

As a kids’ movie, this is perfectly acceptable: the cartoonish elements will befit a young audience. But the PG13 rating suggests Prince of Persia is aiming for an older, more action-oriented crowd, and this could prove a costly mistake. Imagine Pirates carried only by Knightley and Bloom, with no deliciously demented Depp to sustain our interest. Doesn’t work, does it? No doubt Gyllenhaal and Arterton are perfectly competent, but where’s that missing sprinkle of magic?

Prince of Persia will likely do steady box office business, yet we’ll be surprised if it’s the highlight of summer 2010. Given Disney’s rather obvious banking on it becoming a cash-raking franchise, perhaps the best we can hope for is a rethink, followed by a re-energised part two.