INSPIRED by the best-selling video games series, Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is a rollicking escapade which marries gorgeous Moroccan locations with state-of-the-art visual effects.

The time-bending storyline of Mike Newell's big budget adventure incorporates a romantic sub-plot to appeal to female audiences who might otherwise give this testosterone-heavy romp a wide berth.

The casting of a buffed-up Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role will also prove a draw as the Oscar- nominated star of Brokeback Mountain casts aside his indie credentials to throw himself into the melee of this mindless popcorn fodder.

Physically, he is more than a match for any protracted fight sequence in Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard's predictable script, and he nails the British accent of his gung-ho hero.

However, there's no emotional content, and the flirtation with ballsy co-star Gemma Arterton remains suitably chaste so that his dashing saviour doesn't soften his macho hunk image.

A brief prologue establishes the lineage of King Sharaman (Pickup) with a visit to a Persian marketplace, where the monarch picks a street urchin called Dastan to become his surrogate son.