I’m going to take a little more time on this one, because the original, and Greek mythology in general, is so near and dear to my heart.
As Hollywood continues to prove it’s running out of ideas and keeps rehashing or remaking films, prequels and sequels included, I’ve tried to maintain to a standard that it’s okay to remake something if you have something new to say or if you rethink something and make it your own enough to stand apart from the standard you will ultimately be compared to. Some good examples of the rethinking method, as I have pointed out in the past, have been the 1986 version of [amazon_link id=”B000MNOXZ8″ target=”_blank” ]The Fly[/amazon_link], the 1997 film version of [amazon_link id=”B0024FA9IM” target=”_blank” ]Lost in Space[/amazon_link] (not perfect, but I liked it) and, more recently, last year’s blockbuster [amazon_link id=”B001AVCFK6″ target=”_blank” ]Star Trek[/amazon_link]. Failures in the category certainly outweigh the successes, including Speilberg’s War Of The Worlds, Ron Howard’s big screen hoo-ha How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and the biggest goose egg in years, touching upon a classic to churn out the wretched 2008 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still.
So where does the rethink redo redeux [amazon_link id=”B002ZG9788″ target=”_blank” ]Clash of the Titans[/amazon_link] fall? Answer; somewhere in the confused middle, as we are about to see.
The very basic story is the same: Perseus is the son of Zeus in a desperate race to save princess Andromeda from the clutches of the kraken and the rise of Hades after the dark lord of the underworld killed his earthly family and places a curse on the city of Argos (Joppa in the original) when the Argons wage war against the gods. There are still some key elements that remain the same, but at that point is where the two films pretty much part ways.
Perseus has a team that works with him in this film, where in the first he was certainly accompanied by some Joppans, but they were not as three dimensional as the characters in this film. Not that they are nothing more than window dressing to be decoys and whipping boys so our hero may escape and fulfill his destiny, but there is a bit more diversity and depth to them this time nonetheless.
Many of the rumblings the film suffers from are the advances (yes, the advances seem to be a disadvantage in this case) surrounding makeup, sets, special effects and designs in this reboot. Mount Olympus looks like something that came off the cutting room floor from the more recent Star Wars films. Ancient Greek architecture and the way the homestay of the gods is well documented in story, song, artwork, clay pots and older films. Why tinker with the classic style and suddenly relocate them to Naboo is a big question mark, although the meeting room where the gods convene is fairly impressive.
Pegasus in this version is black not white, despite other Pegasuses (not sure where to stop writing that word) are depicted as white. Guess all the cool kids are driving the black models these days.
The kraken, though it boasts both similarities and differences to the traditional version (see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) and the original Clash (Harryhausen’s baby) it is not onscreen nearly long enough for us to get a good look at it. In fact, it seems like in the new 3-D era (I saw this in 2-D but it was obviously made for the 3-D crowd) it seems the all battle scenes and special effects are supposed to move at such a breakneck pace we don’t see them very clearly. Is this so we do not catch flaws or notice where fantasy ends and reality begins? I’m sure the choreographers put a lot of work into the battle scenes with the desert scorpions (their own fate a very clever rethinking), the harpies, the Stygian witches and Medusa, but everything just goes so fast it’s almost like we only get glimpses of them before all the action is over. What we do see of them is most impressive, but the beasts (with the exception of the scorpions) don’t get nearly enough screen time, and isn’t that what we paid for at the box office after all?
With the exception of a fleeting tongue-in-cheek nod to the original film, my dear favorite, Bubo, is sorely missed in this film.
As for the rest, the film is above average in all respects. The acting is fine, except for here and there when I was convinced Ralph Finnes was told to portray Hades “like Voldomort, but with a nose and hair,” and the unconvincingly contrived and mercifully brief romantic interlude between Perseus and Io (yes you read that right, not Andromeda, Io). Strangely, a couple of household name actors like Elizabeth McGovern and Alexander Siddig are in the film very briefly, the latter without any lines whatsoever. Is it really that hard out there for yesteryear’s famous names?
I would not call this recent version of [amazon_link id=”B002ZG9788″ target=”_blank” ]Clash of the Titans[/amazon_link] a roaring success, nor would I dismiss it to the junk heap of so many remakes that have gone before them and fallen flat. Is it a big screen movie? Maybe with the 3-D effect, but if effect is all you want then more “all style and no substance” contributions like Avatar with crop up in the future, generating nothing but eye candy without story. Is it a small screen movie? If you wait for TV you could miss some of the too-quick-for-the-eye details in the battle scenes, but truth be told, if you’ve seen [amazon_link id=”B000Q6GX5Y” target=”_blank” ]300 [/amazon_link], Gladiator, [amazon_link id=”B002HML6Y8″ target=”_blank” ]Van Helsing [/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”B003HTSJ9A” target=”_blank” ]Jason and the Argonauts[/amazon_link] or any of their comparable knockoffs, you’re not missing a whole lot there either. The bottom line is this: if you LOVE the first film, you may or may not like this one. If you HATED the first film, skip this one. If you don’t care or have never seen the classic predecessor, flip a coin and let chance make your choice.
[amazon_link id=”B002ZG9788″ target=”_blank” ]Clash of the Titans[/amazon_link] **1/2 (out of 4) Rated PG for violence and some creepy characters Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Finnes, Jason Felmyng, Gemma Arterton, Pete Postlethwaite, and Alexa Davalos. Cameos by Elizabeth McGovern, Alexander Siddig and Bubo the owl.
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