Clash of the Titans

Clash of Titans
Grade: D
Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelson
Director: Louis Leternier
Free Admission Granted

So it’s a race to the bottom.

We get one remake. That eliminates one film that can be remade. So the next one - as a natural law - will be worse than the last. So we keep going down and down and down.

Clash of the Titans is an uneasy and possibly unholy mix of Greek mythology and popcorn movie. Watching it is like watching a film out of the fifties based on a classic novel. No one will mistake the dialogue for Sophocles. The language seems to be borrowed from another film character directed by Louis Leternier, The Incredible Hulk.

The mythic storyline is fairly straightforward. The city of Argos is in revolt against the Greek gods on Olympus. To punish their insolence, Zeus gives the god of the Underworld, Hades, permission to release the beast known as the Kraken and demand the sacrifice of the princess Cassiopeia. The only hope is a half-god, half-man named Perseus (Avatar’s Sam Worthington), who happens to be wandering around the city at the right time.

If you’re going to do this, you might as well do the action well. It’s quite good, particularly the scene in which Perseus and pals seek to take the serpent head of Medusa. In addition, the advances in effects help tremendously over the original, in particular for the flying horse Pegasus, quite smooth now.

The film continues the Curious Case of Sam Worthington, an Australian actor who likely will be in three significant box office hits, including the biggest hit of all time, and still not be a recognizable star. Will he become a star before he successfully emotes? Vegas certainly could put out a wager.

Clash of the Titans has 3-D, but barely. I can hardly tell you where or when. While having depth in the field of vision is one thing. Depth in characters or story is not the same.