Clash of the Titans

Movie Information

The Story: The demigod Perseus sets out to detach the head of Medusa so he can use it to turn a giant monster to stone and save the people of Argos. The Lowdown: Every bit as silly as it sounds, Clash of the Titans, nonetheless, offers passable, if far from extraordinary, entertainment.
Score:

Genre: Effects-Driven Fantasy
Director: Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk)
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng, Gemma Arterton
Rated: PG-13

OK, so Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans isn’t very good, but neither is it very bad—considering the type of movie it is. I’ve given some thought to the topic (well, maybe 30-minutes worth), and I’m not coming up with a really good film based on Greek mythology. When I was 8 years old, I thought Jason and the Argonauts (1963) was the bee’s knees, and now—exempting nostalgia and the impressiveness of the Ray Harryhausen effects (most of them, at any rate)—I couldn’t make much of a case for it in terms of acting, writing or direction. It’s a swell fantasy—for a younger audience. I suspect that much the same could be said of Clash of the Titans.

The 1981 version of Clash of the Titans has its adherents—mostly comprised of folks who saw it at an impressionable age and those who think that Harryhausen’s stop-motion animation is enough to put a film over the top. I was too old at the time to be impressed, and I’ve never been sold on a movie strictly because of its effects work. Even so, apart from being less stilted—and reducing that damned R2D2 knockoff owl from the original to an in-joke cameo—I don’t see that this remake offers much in the way of improvement. The film feels perfunctory and something of a bore. I had a more compelling time in fourth grade with a dog-eared library book on Greek myths.

The premise finds that humankind have become fed up with the gods and their capricious ways, which would seem a more tenable stance if said gods weren’t quick to take offense and retaliate with full smiting power. Still, the gods need the love and worship of the folks who don’t live on Olympus, because this somehow feeds their power. Thus, the gods must do something. Zeus’ (Liam Neeson festooned with nine yards of crepe hair and the most highly polished suit of armor in history) brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes with even more crepe hair and in dire need of a good scrubbing after arriving on the scene in a cloud of dirt) makes a deal to scare the humans into worshipfulness. (The boy has a future as a fundamentalist preacher.) However, this is really a ploy it seems to unleash his sea monster, the Kraken, and so doing cause the people to hate and fear (the emotions Hades feeds on) the gods even more. Hades makes the good people of Argos a deal: Sacrifice the king’s daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos, Defiance), to the Kraken and everybody else will be spared.

While the people seem pretty cool with this notion—especially a bug-eyed religious zealot—Andromeda and her family are understandably less enthusiastic. But all is not lost, because the rather gloomy bastard son of Zeus, the demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington), has decided to go fetch the head of Medusa and use it to turn the Kraken to stone—mindless of the property damage a gigantic crumbling stone Kraken might cause. Apart from being gloomy, Perseus’ only character trait is that he hates his father and thinks of himself as a fisherman like his late adoptive dad (Pete Postlethwaite). In fact, he spouts the fisherman bit often enough that I kept expecting him to paraphrase the John Lennon quote from “Magical Misery Tour”: “If I could be a fisherman I would, but I can’t because I’m a f**king demigod.” Alas, he doesn’t.

Of course, many special-effects obstacles—including giant scorpions that are subsequently used as cumbersomely slow transportation—must be overcome. There are also some helpful Djinn rock (or maybe wood) people, who appear to have been imported from Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938), to add color to it all. When the big Kraken showdown occurs, it doesn’t seem quite worth the bother—perhaps because the damned thing looks like a soggy version of the anatomically unlikely monster from Cloverfield (2008). And the final scene—looking hopefully toward a sequel—is straight out of one of those Italian Sons of Hercules epics.

The gods themselves—apart from Zeus and Hades—don’t get much of a workout. In fact, they appear to be beamed up to the Enterprise when the going gets rough. It’s just as well. The acting is spotty to say the least. The gods all speak with Royal Academy of Dramatic Art-graduate accents (because we all know the ancient Greeks sounded like upper-class Brits), while Sam “If I could be a fisherman” Worthington uses his normal Australian tones (class distinction maybe). Of the actors, only Neeson, Fiennes and the fellow who plays the religious zealot seem to realize that this is campy stuff. Everyone else is ridiculously serious. Worthington proves what I suspected after Avatar: that he was only charismatic in Terminator Salvation (2009) because he was standing next to Christian Bale.

In the end, the film is simply adequate, but it is that at least. I saw it in the 35mm 3-D version, which, as I predicted, didn’t look appreciably different from digital 3-D. But all in all, the 3-D is nothing to get excited about. You’d be just as well—perhaps better—advised to see the movie in plain old 2-D and save the extra expense. Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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12 thoughts on “Clash of the Titans

  1. Chad Nesbitt

    You are right.
    It was nothing to get excited about.
    Hollywood just can’t make a good remake.

    The original was far better and no one can beat Laurence Olivier’s acting. That caliber of actor just being in the original helped to make it an adventure classic.

    And what about Calabus? What the hell! He looked like a B movie mutant. Swamp Thing had better makeup. In the original, Calabus had a dark sinister look with deep tone features.
    He looked the part.

    I came in real late for the movie but Nancy said they did away with Boo Bow the Owl.
    What the…..You just don’t take away the owl!

    I don’t think they played up the “killing of Medusa” a lot either. That was supposed to be a big deal. They could have made that scene more exciting.

    Another disapointment from Hollywood.

  2. (completely tongue-in-cheek) Aren’t you overlooking Xanadu in the list of really good movies based on Greek mythology?

    (not so) How about “The Twelve Tasks of Asterix”?

  3. Ken Hanke

    The original was far better

    No, I’d say it was just as bad, but maybe in differentt ways.

    What the…..You just don’t take away the owl!

    That, for me, is one of the things the remake got right!

  4. Ken Hanke

    (not so) How about “The Twelve Tasks of Asterix”?

    Not so much overlooking it as never having even heard of it.

  5. Chad Nesbitt

    Hanke,

    Yeh, the girl that got the owl’s job is a lot prettier but I was 11 years old when the original came out. The owl was cool. Besides, the owl is the one that really saved the day. The owl snatched up old snake head out of the water and pitched it to Perseus to kill the Kracken. LOL! Ha, Ha!

    Good article Crank.

  6. bengi

    I wasn’t planning on seeing this but a friend wanted me to go with him. First off, there really isn’t any need to see this in 3D so save some money and see the regular version. Actually there isn’t any real need to see it at all.
    I preferred Harry Hamlin in the original. At least he had some charm and charisma, rather than barely speaking and looking sullen and resentful for the entire movie.

    In this version’s favor is Io, who is much easier on the eyes than Burgess.

  7. T_REX

    Mr Hanke, I am surprised you said this was “entertaining but bad” because a lot of the art direction comes from, I feel, “300”. A film I know you hated.

    I do agree that this is entertaining, in the 2-D version, but in the long run it will probably be forgotten.

    The best scene in the movie is one you have mentioned. A comedy bit using a character from the first film and Mads Milkenson (the best performance in the film) says… “just leave it”.

  8. Ken Hanke

    I am surprised you said this was “entertaining but bad” because a lot of the art direction comes from, I feel, “300”. A film I know you hated

    Maybe, but art direction had/has little to do with why I hated/hate 300. My distaste for that film is almost entirely grounded in finding its thematic qualities repellent. The fact that it’s intensely stupid, cheesy and hysterically acted is secondary.

  9. Sean Williams

    Not so much overlooking it as never having even heard of it.

    You’d likely recognize the character if you saw him.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix

    Boo Bow the Owl.

    I’m pretty sure it’s Bubo — which is, appropriately enough, the medical term for pustules caused by the Black Death.

  10. Ken Hanke

    You’d likely recognize the character if you saw him.

    The guy that looks like Yosemite Sam?

    I’m pretty sure it’s Bubo—which is, appropriately enough, the medical term for pustules caused by the Black Death

    I’m pretty sure you’re right.

  11. davidf

    To be fair, ‘Bubo’ is also the genus of the horned owl. I’m not defending CLASH OF THE TITANS, mind you — just defending owls. If I wanted to be nostalgic for a bad “swords and sandals” fantasy, I’d watch THE BEASTMASTER.

  12. Sean Williams

    The guy that looks like Yosemite Sam?

    Oui.

    To be fair, ‘Bubo’ is also the genus of the horned owl.

    I feel like I should have known that. But in any case, I believe the alternative interpretation is equally apt.

    If I wanted to be nostalgic for a bad “swords and sandals” fantasy, I’d watch THE BEASTMASTER.

    HBO: “Hey, Beastmaster is On!”

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