"Clash of the Titans" is mortally flawed

Director: Louis Leterrier

Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Genre: Action

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

Louis Leterrier's remake of the 1981 classic has all the frills of the 21st century - advanced computer graphics, various special effects, and 3D viewing. However, "Clash of the Titans" is spread so thin that it makes no commitment to any of its features. Think of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with some mythology thrown in. The story is a very loose remake of the original and it is apparent that the 3D feature was just thrown in last minute to raise ticket prices.

A word of advice - If you do decide to watch this film, save yourself an extra $4.00 and 2 hours of headache - catch it in its original 2 dimensional glory. The 3D glasses make the film visibly darker and what few 3D scenes there are in the movie are quite anticlimactic.

"Clash of the Titans" tells the story of young Perseus (Sam Worthington), bastard son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Adopted by a fisherman and his wife, Perseus spends the first 20-odd years of his life at sea, learning the nuances of fishing. All that changes when his family's boat gets caught in the middle of a battle between Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and the people of the city of Argos. The boat capsizes and Perseus is the lone survivor.

Perseus returns to Argos where Hades confronts the public and tells them that the gods are angry with the actions of humanity. In 10 days, he will release the Kraken on the city of Argos or, the city can sacrifice the princess, Andromeda. Perseus and a rag tag group of warriors are put together in search of another solution to the predicament. The most memorable moments of the original are here in the remake - the battle with the Kraken, meeting the witches, Medusa, and of course the centaur Calibos are all back.

But this is where all similarities end. Lets face it, the 1981 version wasn't all that impressive - in fact many critics label it as one of Desmond Davis' poorer films. The 2010 version makes significant changes to the story but none are an improvement. One thing that really turns me off about the film is its blatant use of easter eggs in order to incorporate memorable content from the original. For instance, the original film featured BuBu, the mechanical owl that guided Perseus on his journey. Bubu makes a brief cameo in the remake but those who have never seen the original won't get the reference and those who have seen it will wonder why it was even made. This is the bane of "Clash of the Titans" - too many ideas being introduced yet none of them being thoroughly developed.

The script is another example of the aforementioned flaws. Granted, this is an action movie so viewer's aren't expecting the kind of dialogue that makes "The Usual Suspects" or films of that nature successful, however, the dialogue in "Clash of the Titans", when there is dialogue, is so incredibly unwarranted. Take for instance Perseus' pep-talk to his camp when they prepare to fight Medusa - listen to the last line he says prior to their battle - it is extremely unnecessary and while it provides some comic relief, was poorly constructed. There are many of examples of these dialogue flaws which force the actors to drop out of character. Liam Neeson and Sam Worthington are given poor tools with which to practice their trade - it is no surprise that the final product is less than stellar. The script seems more suitable for the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger as opposed to Sam Worthington. A film like this totally discredits his acting abilities and that's too bad.

As was brought up earlier, the 3D is horrible. Here's a crash course on 3D production - typically, the 3 dimensional elements of a film are incorporated during the actual filming process. That is, producers take the steps necessary to have their movie appear in 3D when it is released. This is not the case with "Clash of the Titans". The film was scheduled to be released in mid March but after the hype that "Avatar" received, many films pushed their release dates back and implemented their 3D campaign post-production. This has a dramatic effect on the viewing experience. The 3D is very similar to that of "Alice in Wonderland" so if you were comfortable with that experience, look for "Clash of the Titans" to offer much of the same.

It isn't all bad though. Admittedly, the CGI in "Clash of the Titans" is top notch and the battle with the scorpions is quite memorable. Also, we've come a long way since 1981 and the Kraken in the 2010 remake is as formidable a monster as ever created. In fact, the CGI is so incredible that the movie is worth seeing for it alone. Additionally, there are a few moments of slapstick humor in the movie that are enjoyable.

As bad as the film is, I still would say it's worth seeing. Just don't expect to remember anything or have some sort of great movie experience - at it's best "Clash of the Titans" is a reasonable popcorn flick that you will be glad to forget as soon as the credits roll.

2 out of 5 stars.

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