Monday, April 5, 2010

Clash of the Titans

First of all, the trailer was fantastic. Second, it's about a classic Greek mythology, one of the most popular stories to date, with gods, battles, dirt, poetry and handsome men showing biceps and muscular legwork. Third, with the modern film making at its finest, the movie is reeking with jam packed entertainment. Fourth, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes play the gods. Since I loved the 1981 film version, I'm sure most people would agree with me that the expectation should be a little bit higher for the 2010 version.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

The movie was all over the place. They tossed in characters that were not essentially needed and pulled out scenes that should have been enhanced from the original film version. We were expecting the gods and goddesses to participate more and not be displayed like statues. The owl, Bubba, was made into a cameo. Even Pegasus didn't take my breath away. The whole timing, entrances and the graphic refinery flopped to deliver a cohesive and stellar movie.

The original plot is already interesting in itself, but for entertainment's sake someone wanted to twist the known legendary facts, put unimpressive action scenes for the heck of it. And for those with more dramatic pallet, certain poetic scenes turned out to be cheesy. I came out of the movie irritated and confused. Some of my friends who had no inkling of Perseus' story got even more confused that the graphics and action scenes couldn't make up for it.

Perseus is the son of Danae, a princess and daughter of King Acrisius, which makes Perseus a grandson to Acrisius. The king received a prophecy that he would be killed by his daughter's son. With Zeus impregnating Danae, the king cast his kin away in a floating casket where a fisherman saw and rescued them. Acrisius has nothing to do with the half monster-half beast that the 2010 movie portrayed. If they wanted to adapt and enhance the original film version, Calibos should be a different character all together and not be mistaken by using Acrisius. And Io? What's the need for Io when there is Andromeda, both exposures are wasted. Kraken is Poseidon't and not Hades'. But perhaps I cannot blame the variety. It may be that several versions are created to deliver art and entertainment rather than the accustomed truth, but I sure hope they did it in a much believable and cohesive fashion. The effort to twist the story could be understood if only it was not confusing and boring.

The actors are veering from cheesiness to a high school play except for Ralph Fiennes who stole the scenes. Liam Neeson's Zeus was not scary or mighty enough, though I still love him. Draco was a point of interest, but the other supporting characters were weak. Cassiopeia was believable, although her role in the movie is short. Acrisius could've been more scarier. Andromeda has sincerity, but her role in this movie is not given much weight. Io is an eye candy and Perseus lacked in the most salient parts that make him a demi-god and a rugged man. He was like an impulsive and punk teenager seeking revenge in fleeting accents of Australian and English. Perseus was not interesting enough.

Months back, this was one of those movies I would have watched in 3D, but thank god I didn't. The graphics were, if not unimpressive, unrefined. I cringed at the fight scenes and close up of Medusa. They could've done better. And frankly, I couldn't think if there were 3D worthy scenes that I missed there anyways.

I won't recommend this for 3D. Heck, I won't recommend this at all lest you expect to be disappointed. If I knew this all along, I would've just bought a DVD. This is not like Lord of The Rings where there are "Aah and nail biting moments." This is not Avatar. This is not even the Odyssey tv-movie produced and shown by The Hallmark Channel, which I loved and lauded. The Clash of the Titaans 1981 film version may have used stopmotion effects at that time, but I suggest you just watch it instead of this year's version. Apparently, nothing could save this movie except for the trailer and marketing. The Gods would've frowned.

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