Clash of the Titans Review
Considerably departing from both the original myth and its 1981 cult classic progenitor, Louis Leterrier’s remake of “Clash of the Titans” proves a disheartening disappointment. Flat and inconsistent, there is considerable effort on display here but no clear sense of where it is all meant to go or what it truly hopes to achieve. The result is a few admirable elements are lost amidst a cacophony of digital set pieces, horrendous scripting, and a grim self-serious tone that’s more laborious than engrossing…read more [DarkHorizons]
Nostalgia is a strange and powerful thing. Take the 1981 adventure epic Clash of the Titans, for example. For years it sat on the shelves, a film of interest only to A) those who’d seen it as children, B) those who want a really silly refresher course on Greek mythology, and C) hardcore movie nerds who worship at the altar of special effects legend Ray Harryhausen. Titans was neither reviled as insipid nor adored like a Jason and the Argonauts (deservedly) is — but Clash of the Titans certainly had its place among the swords & sandals epics… read more [Cinematical]
Jason Flemyng stars as Acrisius and Ralph Fiennes stars as Hades in Clash of the Titans
In Clash of the Titans, Vessel is Perseus: Half fisherman’s (adopted) son, half bastard son of Zeus. After his fisherman family become collateral damage in a fight between mortals and one of the worst CGI creations in the history of big-budget film, Ralph Fiennes’ Hades, Perseus takes up arms against the Gods, carrying around one of his father’s last inspirational salvos: “Enough is Enough!”
Man and the Gods are pitted against each other, of course, because of some absurd circular logic: The Gods aren’t giving men the bounty of food and wealth they’d prefer to have, so men aren’t paying their proper respects to the Gods, and so the Gods aren’t giving them the bounty they want. The Gods, you see, feed off of the power of Man’s prayer — the more prayers they receive, the more powerful they are — but since man has won the jackpot of suck, they refuse to drop their prayer cards in the collection plate and have decided instead to take up arms. Against immortal deities. Who could eviscerate mankind with a sneeze…read more [Pajiba]
Even so, the visuals are less murky and gratuitous than the script. Taking mindless liberties with the original (and I’m not just referring to the 1981 version that was the great f/x pioneer Ray Harryhausen’s last, and perhaps worst, movie), this new edition from Louis Leterrier begins with jealous Acrisius (Jason Flemyng) tossing his wife and her newborn son, Perseus (Sam Worthington), into the sea in a big box. She’s dead, but a fisherman saves the kid — who was sired on the sly by Zeus (Liam Neeson) — and raises him as his own until Hades (Ralph Fiennes, making Voldemort look as artful as King Lear) in a pissy fit drowns Perseus’s surrogate family while raising hell against the city of Argos for knocking over a statue of Zeus…read more [The Phoenix]
Sam Worthington stars as Perseus and Liam Neeson stars as Zeus in Clash of the Titans
CLASH OF THE TITANS A decade too old to convincingly be called “boy,” Sam “Mr. Greenscreen” Worthington is badly cast as reluctant-demigod Perseus — as was Harry Hamlin in the ‘81 Clash of the Titans — but the appeal of sumptuous blockbuster
Hellenism remains with the Gods (Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades) and their miracles (3-D CGI replacing analog). This Clash provides frequent occasion for awe, as Perseus and company, men in rebellion against the tyranny of Olympus, embark on a tour of hodgepodge theme-park antiquity, rendered in button-by-button detail: I especially liked the warped ferry to Hades, with oarsman Charon replaced by an outboard motor. Transporter director Louis Leterrier is sure-footed when battling Gorgons and giant scorpions, but he muddles the comic-grotesque opportunity of the Stygian Witches…read more [LA Weekly]
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