Clash Of The Titans - Movie Review
Rating: 3 out of 5
The studio clearly couldn't resist the chance to digitally revisit the creatures so memorably animated by Ray Harryhausen in the 1981 original. The result is an unnecessary remake that's loud, chaotic and mildly entertaining.
Perseus (Worthington) is a demigod who has been raised by humans and now finds himself at the centre of a war between man and the gods Zeus (Neeson), Hades (Fiennes) and Poseidon (a blink-and-you'll-miss-him Danny Huston). Accompanied by a handful of plucky warriors from Argos (including Mikkelsen, Cunningham, Hoult and Matheson) and his spirit-guide Io (Arterton), he heads off to find the secret to defeat Hades' feared Kraken so he can save Princess Andromeda (Davalos).
The film opens with an extended voice-over from Arterton explaining that the gods have killed all the titans (which kind of undermines the title), and that now mankind wants to eliminate the gods. She then pops up to explain everything as it happens, trying to make sense of a plot that's been harshly edited to a mere outline of its narrative. The film gallops along, darting past key events, leaving big-name cast members on the cutting room floor and chopping all the action to get a PG-13 (which means you're rarely sure quite what's happened).
And while the movie is far too serious and joyless for its own good, there's at least some camp value in seeing these manly men growling their dialog while wearing mini-skirts. Not to mention the shameless theft of key elements from Star Wars (the light sabre-like sword, the lost hand, sand people, a glimmery Neeson urging his son to use the force). And the film is stolen by side actors Ashraf Barhom and Mouloud Achour as comic-relief Turkish warriors.
Finally, it has to be said that the digital effects are impressive, from the gigantic scorpions to the swooshing Pegasus, plus of course the Kraken itself.
On the other hand, the unnecessary 3D is eye-straining and uninteresting. In the end, the film is decently watchable fluff, and the only real pity is that the whole story has been turned into a vacuous revenge quest with no subtext at all. But maybe that was too much to hope for.
Facts and Figures
Year: 2010
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 106 mins
In Theaters: Friday 2nd April 2010
Box Office USA: $163.2M
Box Office Worldwide: $232.7M
Budget: $125M
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Production compaines: Moving Picture Company (MPC), Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Thunder Road Pictures, The Zanuck Company
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 28%
Fresh: 67 Rotten: 172
IMDB: 5.8 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Louis Leterrier
Producer: Kevin De La Noy, Basil Iwanyk
Screenwriter: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Starring: Sam Worthington as Perseus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades, Gemma Arterton as Io, Jason Flemyng as Calibos / Acrisius, Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, Tine Stapelfeldt as Danae, Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, Luke Evans as Apollo, Izabella Miko as Athena, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Agyness Deyn as Aphrodite, Kaya Scodelario as Peshet, Nathalie Cox as Artemis, Pete Postlethwaite as Spyros, Polly Walker as Cassiopeia, Ashraf Barhom as Ozal, Elizabeth McGovern as Marmara, Nicholas Hoult as Eusebios, Liam Cunningham as Solon, Hans Matheson as Ixas, Vincent Regan as Kepheus, Alexander Siddig as Hermes, Luke Treadaway as Prokopion, Mouloud Achour as Kucuk, Ian Whyte as Sheikh Sulieman, Katherine Loeppky as Aged Cassiopeia, Danny Huston as Poseidon, Phil McKee as Harbourmaster, Laura Kachergus as Citizen (Argos), David Kennedy as Kepheus' General, Nina Young as Hera, Jane March as Hestia, Natalia Vodianova as Medusa, Charlotte Comer as Demeter, Rory McCann as Bello
Also starring: Basil Iwanyk, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi