All the fuss in “Prince of Persia” arises from the existence of a magical dagger that, when you press its handy button, causes time to flow swiftly backward. This trick is less awe-inspiring than it sounds. If you’re stuck in a theater watching this silly, derivative, convoluted nonsense, the last thing you want to do is relive any of it.

But relive it you will, because the movie is nothing if not repetitive. Howling winds, clanging swords, galloping horses, knives whizzing past heads, men diving through the air and shrieking or slumping — the cacophony only stops long enough for the characters to tell each other what’s going on. Then WHAM! Back to the sword fights.

Proudly wielding the volume and frenetic, numbing pacing that are hallmarks of Jerry Bruckheimer-produced films, “Prince of Persia” is based on a video game that is probably a lot more fun to play than just watch, seeing as there’s not much new in sword fighting these days. The story centers on the brave, agile orphan Dastan (who grows up to be Jake Gyllenhaal), plucked from the mean streets by the Persian king to be raised with his sons. Dastan is sort of like an underprivileged Hit Girl from “Kick-Ass,” only less well armed and a lot less pithy.

As adults, the young men — Dastan leading the way — quickly conquer a holy city after hearing rumors that its citizens were forging weapons of mass destruction. But the existence of such weapons has been greatly exaggerated — stop me if you’ve heard that one before — and there has been treachery in the family ranks. Suddenly Dastan is framed for a royal murder. He flees with the help of a feisty princess (Gemma Arterton), with whom he promptly proceeds to bicker over the magic dagger. Unleashed, it will destroy the world. With a giant sandstorm. Or something.

The most intriguing thing about this enterprise is the quality of talent assembled in service to such an idiotic story. Not only are Gyllenhaal and Ben Kingsley, who plays Dastan’s uncle, on board but also director Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Donnie Brasco”) and Alfred Molina (“An Education”), who plays a sort of cross between Han Solo with dental-hygiene issues and a tea party supporter. He gets a few laughs by griping about taxes and the government, and the asides are rather refreshing. Most of the dialogue comes straight from an old Bible movie: “I ride at the head of the Persian army!” “My treacherous brother must be brought to justice!” “Clever princess!”

There’s plenty of action, but it’s all the same, each fight indistinguishable from the next, except for the scenes that employ mystical vipers to attack the good guys. (As a wise man — and if you are over 15 this movie will make you miss him a lot — once said: “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”) There’s also a fiendish overabundance of eyeliner at work here. Molina and Kingsley in particular are wearing enough to qualify as members of Depeche Mode.

The funny thing is that Gyllenhaal, with his boyish charm playing nicely off his buffed-up physique, actually makes a pretty decent action hero. If only we could go back in time and make “Prince of Persia” worthy of him.