Clash of the Titans «««
PG-13, 110m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Sam Worthington (Perseus), Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades), Jason Flemyng (Calibos/Acrisius), Gemma Arterton (Io), Alexa Davalos (Andromeda), Mads Mikkelsen (Draco). Screenplay by Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, and Matt Mandredi based on the 1981 screenplay by Beverley Cross. Directed by Louis Leterrier.
The first sign this Clash of the Titans remake is not your daddy’s 1981 fantasy adventure comes within the first half hour when Perseus (Sam Worthington), a Demi-God and mortal son of Zeus, is about to embark on a perilous journey along with a handful of Greek soldiers to save the city of Argos.
As Perseus grabs an assortment of weapons he comes across a living mechanical droid owl and is told by one of the soldiers to toss it back in the box.
I have not yet seen the 1981 original. Thanks to the trailers I saw back then, however, not only do I recall seeing a few notable actors like Laurence Olivier donning white toga garb, I also remembered there being a flying, mechanical droid owl.
The best remakes I believe are the ones where the filmmakers pay brief homage to its predecessor whether it’s having one or two members make a cameo appearance, or in the case of this new Clash of the Titans, referencing the original’s visual effects. Seeing Worthington’s Perseus toss that poor owl back in the box, I got the impression this was director Louis Leterrier’s way of saying to the original's fans to forget everything they remember about the 81’ version. This is a Clash of the Titans for a new generation.
Since I haven’t seen the first film, watching this redo is like seeing a new movie for the first time. I am, however, familiar with a few of the characters we meet here like the Greek God, Zeus (Liam Neeson), whose home on Mount Olympus looks like a city in the clouds and Medusa, whose snakelike hair and beauty turns soldiers into stone. Yet, I don’t think anyone would accuse me of lying if I said I am 110 percent certain the film follows the exact same storyline as the original.
Still, there is a lot I liked about the film, in particular, Neeson’s and Fiennes’ performances as the Gods, both of whom sport long beards. Instead of togas, Neeson’s Zeus dons metallic armor resembling a knight while Fiennes talks in such a gruff, parched voice as Hades that half the time I could not tell if it was really him speaking. My guess is there is no water in Hell though I’d venture to say that’s not the real reason why he wants to unleash mayhem on the world.
I also admit though I am not much of a religious person these days, I did find it clever how Clash of the Titans’ storyline boasts a unique end of the world premise from a Christian standpoint. You have Zeus, for example, ticked off at how the mortals no longer honor him and are instead exhibiting hatred and immorality that Hades feeds on. With all the wickedness going on today, by comparison, I have to wonder if God isn’t sitting up in Heaven losing patience with mankind and waiting for the Anti-Christ to finally make his presence known to the world so the Almighty can begin what’s foretold in the Book of Revelation.
Fans might have died laughing but I was convinced there was such a thing thanks to Neeson’s way of delivering the lines. Now compare that scene with the one in the Clash of the Titanstrailer where we see Neeson’s Zeus utter the line, “Release the Kraken!”
Like the word, “Midichlorians”, up until I saw Clash of the Titans, I had no idea what a “Kraken” was except to assume that when Zeus gives the order, whatever a “Kraken” is can’t be good news for anyone.
NOTE: I did not see Clash of the Titans in 3D as I refuse to wear those black glasses for more than two minutes. I have, however, noticed watching movies made for 3D like last year’s animated Battle for Terra, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, and Avatar in 2D, certain images come at you as though the shots were meant for 3D. I did not see that at all watching Clash of the Titans in 2D, and if there were any, I missed them.
©4/2/10
PG-13, 110m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Sam Worthington (Perseus), Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades), Jason Flemyng (Calibos/Acrisius), Gemma Arterton (Io), Alexa Davalos (Andromeda), Mads Mikkelsen (Draco). Screenplay by Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, and Matt Mandredi based on the 1981 screenplay by Beverley Cross. Directed by Louis Leterrier.
As Perseus grabs an assortment of weapons he comes across a living mechanical droid owl and is told by one of the soldiers to toss it back in the box.
I have not yet seen the 1981 original. Thanks to the trailers I saw back then, however, not only do I recall seeing a few notable actors like Laurence Olivier donning white toga garb, I also remembered there being a flying, mechanical droid owl.
The best remakes I believe are the ones where the filmmakers pay brief homage to its predecessor whether it’s having one or two members make a cameo appearance, or in the case of this new Clash of the Titans, referencing the original’s visual effects. Seeing Worthington’s Perseus toss that poor owl back in the box, I got the impression this was director Louis Leterrier’s way of saying to the original's fans to forget everything they remember about the 81’ version. This is a Clash of the Titans for a new generation.
Since I haven’t seen the first film, watching this redo is like seeing a new movie for the first time. I am, however, familiar with a few of the characters we meet here like the Greek God, Zeus (Liam Neeson), whose home on Mount Olympus looks like a city in the clouds and Medusa, whose snakelike hair and beauty turns soldiers into stone. Yet, I don’t think anyone would accuse me of lying if I said I am 110 percent certain the film follows the exact same storyline as the original.
I seriously doubt Clash of the Titans will receive, much less, win any Oscars next year in the categories of visual effects or performances. The film wasn’t made to be Oscar worthy. Titans is an often fun, mindless two-hour getaway fantasy adventure. If it lacks anything it is that I failed to find myself rooting for Worthington’s hero, Perseus, much less loathing Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the underworld God who gives the people of Argos three days to offer up the king’s daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), as a sacrifice to Zeus or suffer dire consequences.I also found that for a guy like Perseus, whose adopted family is killed by Hades and who he vows revenge against, that when the final battle between God and Demi-god finally arrived, the duel ended too quickly. It’s almost as though the whole point of Perseus’ adventure was not so much to avenge his family’s deaths against Hades as it was to take the audience on a computer generated adventure for him and his entourage to slay giant scorpions and encounter a trio of one-eyed witches who claim they can see the future.
Still, there is a lot I liked about the film, in particular, Neeson’s and Fiennes’ performances as the Gods, both of whom sport long beards. Instead of togas, Neeson’s Zeus dons metallic armor resembling a knight while Fiennes talks in such a gruff, parched voice as Hades that half the time I could not tell if it was really him speaking. My guess is there is no water in Hell though I’d venture to say that’s not the real reason why he wants to unleash mayhem on the world.
I also admit though I am not much of a religious person these days, I did find it clever how Clash of the Titans’ storyline boasts a unique end of the world premise from a Christian standpoint. You have Zeus, for example, ticked off at how the mortals no longer honor him and are instead exhibiting hatred and immorality that Hades feeds on. With all the wickedness going on today, by comparison, I have to wonder if God isn’t sitting up in Heaven losing patience with mankind and waiting for the Anti-Christ to finally make his presence known to the world so the Almighty can begin what’s foretold in the Book of Revelation.
I find the two ways a fantasy movie like this can work is one, if the actors look as though they are enjoying themselves regardless how outlandish the storyline is. Two, if they can get through uttering ridiculous dialogue and make what they are saying sound convincing. Worthington, Neeson and Fiennes all succeed.Neeson is no stranger to uttering dialogue in previous movies he’s done that I am sure when he reads the scripts, he asks himself how could he say this on screen. I recall the scene back in Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) where his Jedi Knight character explains to young Anakin Skywalker about how people in that “galaxy far, far away” are born with “Midichlorians.” I know full well that scene had Star Wars fans either asking where did this gibberish come from especially since the word or idea was never mentioned in the previous movies.
It works here, just as it worked in the original Star Wars trilogy, despite Harrison Ford’s complaints to George Lucas back then saying just because the director can write the dialogue doesn’t mean saying the lines comes easy for the cast members.
Fans might have died laughing but I was convinced there was such a thing thanks to Neeson’s way of delivering the lines. Now compare that scene with the one in the Clash of the Titanstrailer where we see Neeson’s Zeus utter the line, “Release the Kraken!”
Like the word, “Midichlorians”, up until I saw Clash of the Titans, I had no idea what a “Kraken” was except to assume that when Zeus gives the order, whatever a “Kraken” is can’t be good news for anyone.
NOTE: I did not see Clash of the Titans in 3D as I refuse to wear those black glasses for more than two minutes. I have, however, noticed watching movies made for 3D like last year’s animated Battle for Terra, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, and Avatar in 2D, certain images come at you as though the shots were meant for 3D. I did not see that at all watching Clash of the Titans in 2D, and if there were any, I missed them.
©4/2/10
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