Movie Review: Clash of the Titans (2010)
As far as silly action epics go, this one satisfies
Photo: Warner Bros.
As someone that once loved the original 1981 Ray Harryhausen-produced Clash of the Titans, I now look back fondly at that picture, but recognize it as a silly (nearly) 30-year-old epic romance. I can only look back with nostalgia and fond memories. I imagine Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans remake will make a similar impression on the youth of today, though this is a much more rock 'em-sock 'em telling of the original story, but still just as silly. Boasting updated effects, gooier scorpion deaths and an even larger monster from the deep, this remake places action first, story second and characters last. Yet the story itself is fun enough that I was able to have a good time.
In comparing this one to the first film, the biggest difference is the motivation of the lead character Perseus (Sam Worthington), a demigod born of Zeus. In the original, the journey he follows comes as a result of his love for Andromeda as the Gods have called for her sacrifice in order to save the city of Jobba. The remake follows a similar journey, but Perseus is spurred on following the death of his adoptive family at the hands of the Gods. Here his goal is to save the city of Argos and do so as a man, ignoring his godly bloodlines, proving men don't need the Gods to be great.
The cast includes Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Luke Evans, Nicholas Hoult, Kaya Scodelario and Jason Flemyng. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Clash of the Titans" is a Warner Bros. release, directed by Louis Leterrier and is rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality. The running time is 1 hour 50 minutes.
Scripted by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (the duo behind the abysmal Aeon Flux) along with Travis Beacham the film runs on thin threads woven by the original scripter Beverley Cross. While the story is not exactly the same, the diversions are mere formalities and Leterrier's ability to film action as he did in Transporter 2 and The Incredible Hulk remains.
Leading that action is Sam Worthington, with a domestic film career that hasn't done much to show us his ability to act in a dramatic role, but with Terminator Salvation, Avatar and now Clash of the Titans under his belt I would say his ability to act against a green screen has been proven. Whether he can turn this current career of corny speeches, a couple of grumbles and a wave of the sword into anything will be tested soon enough in John Madden's The Debt and Last Night opposite Keira Knightley. He doesn't appear to be of the no-brains-and-all-brawn action star niche so his likelihood of being typecast doesn't seem immediately possible, but there's no real way to gauge his talent when all we've really seen of him is a talent for chopping up CG creatures and robots to this point.
Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) plays the soft spoken Io, something of a guide to the group as she has been watching over Perseus all his life. Also among Perseus's traveling band, Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) plays the gruff Argos military leader Draco with the unique charisma we've come to expect from Mikkelsen and Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy and A Single Man) plays the young warrior Eusebios, which reminded me a lot of the timid yet confident performance of Garrett Hedlund in Troy as Achilles's cousin Patroclus.
On Mount Olympus two names stand out, Liam Neeson is commanding as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes plays his scorned brother Hades, channeling his performance as the whispering menace Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise, only this time with a lot more hair — and it works.
The marketing team at Warner Bros. has pretty much ruined any surprise the CG monsters have to offer, short of actually giving a full reveal of Medusa's face (at least to my knowledge). They've even gone so far as to completely reveal the monstrous Kraken, the titan that serves as the film's massive finale. It's a blunder if there ever was one, hurting the chances to offer the audience any form of awe-inspired surprises. Next is the post-production 2D-to-3D conversion, a weak money grab that is evident in every scene. Some scenes, for that matter, can be watched without the glasses entirely with slight edge blurring where a faint hint of depth would otherwise be seen amidst the brightened image to offset the dimming of the polarized 3D glasses.
I would never recommend anyone see this film in the converted 3D as it is only a reason for greedy theater owners and the studio to take a larger bite out of your wallet and offer little to nothing in return. However, I would say anyone looking for a goofy good time at the theater with a big effects driven monster movie this one satisfies on that front. This is the rock 'n' roll battle of men and Gods, and up until the ridiculous final romantic drum beat, it serves as such.
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Yeah, I just got back from seeing this one. Very enjoyable action movie. I would definitely say the greatest flaw is the 3D, but I won't judge the film itself simply because of the idiocy of the studio. And even though they'd already revealed a lot of the creatures, I still had fun with most of them. Worthington did fine enough, but I'd definitely have to agree that the props go to Neeson, Fiennes, Arterton, and Mikkelson.
And I agree that movies using 3D conversion are nothing more than a greedy money grab by the studios. The 3D in this movie was completely pointless and distracting.
Just seen this. Arteton is mone lousy actress. Good movie though.
I really want to see it. On a scale of 1 to 10, how is the movie in general, action, visual effects,and acting. I'm seeing it tommorow and i can't wait. I loved the original, though it was chessy, it was really entertaining. How was the kraken or the scorpions or medusa?
I think it is funny that all the advertising promotes 3D and in small letters on the TV spots it says "also in 2D!" Sounds like the 3D isn't worth it. I wasn't going to see it in 3D anyways, and now I know I'm not going to miss anything.
I'll see it. In 2-D, for sure.
I think I walked in expecting too much of this film because I walked out not pleased at all. I thought the krakken would be a bigger part of the movie because they built it up so much and then the scene was like 3 minutes long. Not pleased w/ the ending either, but like I said, I think I walked in expecting too much. Might need a second watch
Just saw it. Big fan of the original, and I like the attempt to keep all the elements in place. But this is pure cheese. 100% and yet it is definitely enjoyable. I think I might have enjoyed it more without the 3-D, didn't enhance the experience whatsoever. And probably would've enjoyed it more without Sam Worthington. Still not getting the big deal with him. One reviewer called him a haircut in search of a person, which I agree. He comes across with zero personality or charisma. May help in Avatar but hurts here in Titans. Plus, why is Perseus the only one in this world without long hair. Definitely distracting at times since he never seemed a part of this world.
I liked it. Different than the first but enjoyable and good special effects. It does a great job at what it is, a mythical action movie. Pegasus is really cool too.
you can pretty much do everything that happens in this movie if you get your hands on god of war 3, i think i'll wait till the dvd comes out, BTW i hate 3d it gives me migraines
GOD! THIS MOVIE WAS TERRIBLE!
Acting was pretty bland (except for Ralph Fiennes). Action wasn't good. Very anti-climactic ending. But it all starts with a horrible flipping script. Oh man, was the dialog bad! I could help laughing at the ludicrous dialog and a waste of great talent in this epic fail of a remake.
I can't believe Brad rated this a B- when I would give this a D. Maybe because he gets to watch this crap for free when I shelled out $13. SAVE YOUR MONEY, PEOPLE. JUST RENT THE STOP-MOTION ONE.
Finally a sane comment! The action scenes were serviceable, I guess, but when you really don't care who lives or dies, what's the point? The film failed to make me care about 1 character. And I'm still not sure whether or not I'm supposed to like the Gods, the humans, both, or neither. And what a waste of the beautiful Alexa Davalos.
And the worst was the ending.
SPOILER!
They created this huge CGI monster and all Perseus did was stone it! That's it! No fight, just Medusa head! And a terrible gesture to women in the ending too to bring back Io just for his worldly desires. Ugh. I wanted to vomit. And did you see how they wanted to set it up for a sequel as though they were going to battle Hades again? This movie reeked, and it's sad that they're going to make more of these kinds of crap because they audience has been fooled and responded.
I saw it last night. I really liked it. The effects were great and i liked the acting, especially from Ralph Fiennes. I didnt like the fact that andromeda wasnt the love intrest like she was in the original. I give it a B+ for a great time at the movies.
I was disappointed with this movie. I expected more from the gods. there were a lot of scenes they could have left out. The original was better, it explained more then this movie did.
I hated the movie. I was a big fan of the original and was very disappointed. I expected some changes but not a complete rewrite of the script. The acting was bad. Women basically had no role in the film. This is my first time ever posting something but hated it so much I had to say something. If I wanted a lesson about God vs the devil and good vs evil I would go to church I was not at all expecting it to the extent they portrayed it in this movie.
"If I wanted a lesson about God vs the devil and good vs evil I would go to church I was not at all expecting it to the extent they portrayed it in this movie."
I personally think the 2010 version was much more exciting than the 1981 version…the older one was boring to me personally.
As in saying God vs Satan and you would go to church to hear that sounds a bit stupid. Although I am a Christian, and very thankful for what Christ did for us, this satan that some churches teach about is a joke all in and of itself…satan has no power other than what God allows, if you take satan to be literal, or a better understand of satan is the fallen nature of humanity.
As for the Clash of the Titans, it is a Greek Mythology film which falls in very closely to the Serpent Seed Doctrine…for those who take the film literally. But, to take the film in more of a parable it would paint a good example of good vs evil and that how the doomsday people are behaving today, or those who do not care on standing up to their government it would seem evil is ruling the world but once we the people stand up and try, and do, make a difference within society good would than rule once again…or in better terms to become more visible to see.
After reading this review and seeing a few others, I decided to boycott the 3D money grab and caught the 2D instead. Very glad I did.
I saw the original at a drive-in when it was originally released when I was about 12, and was really keen to see it. The original isn't a sacred cow for me, but I am still rather fond of it. The rewrite I thought gave it a somewhat tighter story. And, honestly, I was expecting nothing more than to be entertained and to revel in the nostalgia and it well satisfied on both counts.
Were I a 12 now and seeing this version, I think it would've done the same thing the '81 version did for 12-year-old me: fueled and revved my both imagination and interest in mythology and ancient history.
It really sucks when they show everything in the teasers and trailers, i was hoping to see the 2 headed dogs to fight them before they enter medusa's lair, and nothing.
The movie is still fun to watch, but nothing in the movie will make your jaw drop.
This movie was awful, and I consider myself to be very easy going and open minded when it comes to movies.
I'm actually more surprised that Brad or anyone else can recommend this movie as a goofy FX-driven action movie and have a good time with it, and still hate on something like Transformers 2, which is out to deliver exactly the same as Clash of the Titans did (or tried to).
Maybe it was because the trailer led me to believe it would be more epic and less goofy, but I was very disappointed with the overall experience.
Also, I found the action scenes to be terrible: blurry and too up-close. I can only imagine how bad it would be in 3D. Anyone else notice that?
My partner and I, thoroughly enjoyed this movie, I did watch it in 2-D however and wondered what 3-D would be like, sounds like it wasn't very pleasing so that's a relief.
I found it to be exciting and riveting and I don't think it was as awful as some say it was, but I got my movie tickets for free from going to a restaurant so I'm not complaining :).
Sam Worthington could of left his Aussie accent back at home, but his acting chops were up to scratch.
I give it a big thumbs up and a B+ is suited to it.
Oh yeah, and it definitely was worth a watch.