The highly anticipated action film Clash of the Titans is a clash between the good and the bad, but a must-see.
The film is directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) and stars Avatar’s Sam Worthington as Perseus. The plot is weak and predictable, but the action sequences are very entertaining and make the movie worth seeing. Besides the fight scenes where Perseus and the humans are not fighting Medusa or some overgrown scorpion, there is not much to pay attention to.
Clash of the Titans, a remake of the 1981 film of the same name, is loosely based on the myth of Perseus, and a battle between the gods of Olympus and the humans of the Greek city, Argos.
The mortals of Argos are fed up with the terrible treatment they have been receiving from the gods, so King Acrisius declares war on the Olympians. To teach Acrisius a lesson, Zeus disguises himself as king and impregnates Acrisius’ wife. Acrisius attempts to drown his wife and her child Perseus, but Perseus is rescued by a fisherman and his family.
About 20 years later, Perseus’ family is killed by Hades and is drawn into the war between the gods and mortals. He didn’t ask to be a savior and would have preferred the lifestyle of a simple fisherman, yet such is his destiny.
In order to get revenge on Hades, Perseus must first find the one and only way to defeat the Kraken and save Andromeda, the daughter of new king Cepheus, who is being sacrificed as punishment for the misdeeds of the mortals.
The acting in this film is average and most actors appear to just be looking for a big paycheck from the $125 million budget.
Worthington gives a good, but sometimes boring and one dimensional performance as the demi-god Perseus. Zeus is played by Liam Neeson, who is not given much to do in this movie other than decide if and when to punish the mortals for their rebellions.
Ralph Fiennes does a decent job of playing Hades, who tries to get revenge on Zeus for tricking him into becoming god of the underworld. The acting doesn’t help or hurt
the film.
The best part about Clash of the Titans is the special effects. Leterrier and his crew do an exceptional job at making the monsters that Perseus is forced to battle appear realistic. The fights between Perseus and some of the monsters are very entertaining and Leterrier doesn’t overdo it by adding lots of blood and chopped off limbs.
The only action sequence that is pretty boring is the ending between Perseus and the Kraken. For almost the entire movie, the Kraken is being built up as this huge and terrifying monster, but by the time the Kraken appears, audiences were not really impressed. Maybe if the actors stopped talking about how terrifying it is for about half the movie the climax would have been much better.
Overall, Clash of the Titans is worth a look at on the big screen. The film does its job as an action-adventure flick, by entertaining its audiences through fights, chases, and thrills. The last recommendation is to skip the 3D experience and see it in regular 2D. It won’t make much of a difference.
