Clash of The Titans (2010)
Brought to you by OBS Staff Member Karolina
Rating: Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.
Running time: 118 min
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Review:
When Kepheus and Cassiopeia, King and Queen of Argos, declare war on the Gods, claiming it is time for the age of men, it is up to Perseus, a boy cast into the sea and found by a fisherman named Spyros, to lead the fight against the Gods. Perseus has no love lost for the Gods, losing his family in various ways due to the God’s meddling. With an army from Argos, and the ageless Io as his guide, Perseus must travel to Hades to retrieve the head of Medusa to stop the wrath of Hades and Zeus combined, and the promise of the terrifying Kraken being released if the sacrifice of the Princess Andromeda of Argos is not made by the time of the eclipse.
Now, I have not seen the original 1981 version of Clash of the Titans, so this will not be a comparison review. The story of Perseus (played by Sam Worthington) here is told very simply (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and differs from the original myth. I will talk about what I really enjoyed first. The graphics in this were awesome. The beginning really pulled you into the story, and the monsters and scenery were wonderfully fantastical. I loved the way Hades (Ralph Fiennes) appeared, and the whirlwind that he was when he wrecked havoc on blasphemous humans looked great. The actors did well with what they were given. I did feel empathy for Perseus’ plight – and even felt for Zeus’ (Liam Neeson- who was shiny!) frustration and the fact that he was slightly swayed by his conniving brother, Hades, who was bent on revenge for being cast to the Underworld. The action scenes were fun, and I really liked the two main female characters in this. Io (Gemma Arterton) was fantastic as Perseus’ patient guide, a woman who has watched over Perseus since birth, and was now leading him to his destiny. Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), although not in it too much, was lovely as the strong, down-to-Earth, and appropriately Gods-fearing daughter of the naive and pompous Kepheus and Cassiopeia.
There were things that bugged me, though. One was the fact that this had a potential to be so much more. It could have been a nice , interesting social commentary about Gods and man – but it really fell short. Also, Sam Worthington – this is the first time I’ve seen him in anything. I think he has a good basis for being an awesome actor – but, there is something incredibly distracting about him, and that is his Australian accent. An “Australian” Perseus does not work. I cringed whenever I heard it come out, and I am Australian (BTW – my accent is actually quite a bit lighter than his!). It took away from his performance, and, as a friend and I discussed after the movie – made us think he was about to throw something on the barbie, or pull out a spoon and play knifey spooney (<– Simpsons reference).
I also have two warnings. The first is my friend who I saw it with had limited knowledge of the Perseus story going into the movie, and found herself quite lost in some points. The Gray women were not explained, and my friend jokingly admitted that she spent half the movie wondering who “McKrakin” was, and whether that was a burger from McDonalds (thank you to her for allowing me to put that in this review) – I found out later that there were also references to the original that made no sense to someone who had not seen the original (and plot points that didn’t make sense -for example, the kraken and Medusa). The second warning was something another friend warned me about before seeing the movie – and that was to do with the 3d aspect. The action scenes in the movie are so fast paced, that when watching it in 3d, it on occasion looks like a massive blur, and had the potential to cause headaches. Oh! One other thing my friend noted – the Pegasi? Kind of looked like hippogriffs – but that was kind of fun.
Clash of the Titans (2010) is very much a popcorn flick – it’s entertaining, it has good fight scenes, and the acting is good for what the movie is. I wouldn’t go in expecting a comprehensive look at the myth of Perseus, or for something that you can debate about later, though.
Rating: 6.5/10
