Movie Review: Clash of The Titans

Another blog?  Three in one week?!  Has the world gone mad?!  Well, sure but no more than usual.  This time I have a new movie review for you, my faithful followers.

Elise and I have just returned from seeing:

Let me start off by saying that I am a huge fan of the original.  So much so that I have no problems looking past all the inaccuracies (nerd alert!), it is called Clash of The Titans, not Perseus The Movie, I understand that it's really a showcase for some cool mythology and imagery.  Unlike movies like Troy for example, which WAS based off of specific mythology and I just could not look past the errors, especially since they neutered all my favorite parts and characters (poor Ajax).  But enough of that, back to the review at hand!

The creators obviously held the original in high regard, you could see elements of it all throughout the new movie, there is even a short scene with Bubo, the clockwork owl!  There are some new characters that were not featured in the original, like Io, although they changed her story, it was still nice to see some new characters.
Speaking of characters, that was one bone of contention that Elise and I shared.  We didn't know the names of ANY of Perseus' friends!  I don't think they said any of their names in the damn film, it was especially annoying since some of them were pretty cool.  Sam Worthington, who play Perseus, seems to be in every big action movie lately, I'm not entirely sure why, he's not bad but he hasn't really earned the status he seems to have fallen into.  Still, he's fine, I don't have an opinion of him, and that might be my problem with him *shrug*
As for the special effects, they were pretty damn good.  The Stygian Witches were fantastically creepy, Pegasus looked pretty awesome even though he was a bit under used, they threw in some middle eastern mythology in a group of Djinn which all looked totally bad ass and Medusa was very cool but I still think I prefer Harryhausen's version.
The Kraken was pretty freaking awesome looking, it would dwarf the original easily.  I am a bit torn between the original and the new Kraken, I'm not sure which I thought was cooler.  The face of the new Kraken reminded me of a comic book villain but I can't place my finger on who, so I might have to give the nod to the original for being more...well original, still though, the new guy is pretty impressive.
The Gods were pretty good, they seemed to be taking a bit of advice from JJ Abrams in the lens flare department, they sure were shiney!  I think my main complaint is only that their beards were very fake looking, it was almost distracting, but I guess it added to the joyful campiness of the movie.  Hades' special effects were really cool, but I do wish he was more threatening or powerful looking.  Ralph Fiennes played him kind of decrepit, I think I actually prefer the Disney James Wood's Hades, but still not bad.
Calibos was much more powerful in this version, but looked kind of lame.

The over all plot is very different from the original.  Instead of trying to save Argos and win Andromeda's heart, Perseus really just wants to stick it to the Gods for getting his family killed.  Andromeda is a side note, not his motivation.  This was another thing I didn't mind, it was similar enough to still earn it's name while bringing something new to the table also.

Overall, I think I enjoyed this more than Avatar.  It wasn't pretentious or preachy, it was just spectacle and giant monsters!  I'd give it a solid B (fitting, since it's really a big budget B movie).  It's a lot of fun and a good way to spend an afternoon.  I'd catch it at a matinée for the most bang for my buck, but avoid the 3D, I have heard it's a terrible conversion.  The movie was only turned 3D to try cashing in on some of that sweet sweet Avatar bread, so go for 2D, like we did.

If you've had a chance to see it, let me know what you thought!