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damalc 
"last watched: Sausage Party"
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 Posted - 04/05/2010 : 17:13:20
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Clash of the Titans
pretty, but ultimately, the worst thing a movie can be: forgettable. |
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silly 
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."
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Posted - 04/08/2010 : 16:00:31
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My son loved it. I could have waited for the video. This would have made a great flick on cable on a Saturday afternoon.
BTW, we saw the 2D version at the matinee, I'm sure I didn't miss anything special. |
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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 04/08/2010 : 23:36:01
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No, it really didn't feel like a film that was enhanced in any way by seeing it in 3D - which I did. The bad reviews meant I was looking for a little more spectacle to temper the bad parts, but it really didn't do that at all.
I love the original film - it's one of my earliest cinema memories being taken to see it by my parents, and along with Jason and the Argonauts it gave me a real love for classical mythology, not to mention a love of fantastical cinema. With that in mind I knew that it couldn't ever live up to the original film, and of course it doesn't in any way but I was hoping for some popcorn entertainment and some meaty monster mayhem. Well....
Modern action blockbusters with very few exceptions seem to have no idea whatsoever when it comes to building character, situation and dramatic tension - and the action sequences are so overloaded with camera effects (shaky camera, half second editing, random slow motion highlights) that it's impossible to see what the hell is going on. The CGI here is generally to a high standard but it doesn't help that the sequences are uninspired and just not exciting - because we're not allowed to perceive actual danger or feel the potential for mortality. The scorpion and kraken attacks are pretty, but also dramatically inert.
Having said the CGI is good, that doesn't include when dealing with the human face of Medusa where we're back to computerised "final fantasy"-esque soulless graphics (a separate bug-bear here... Medusa should really be hideous all the time as part of her curse, not just when she's killing someone) - only Jim Cameron cracked this in Avatar - it's the only convincing character work in CGI I've ever seen.
All that aside the story is what it's all about - the telling of the myth and the fable with some juicy characters, monsters and life or death situations - none of that is apparent in this remake. The story is riddled with plotholes, and doesn't hang together at all. In the pantheon of the gods Zeus and Hades have a lot to say but seem to do very little. Neeson's not especially imposing or powerful; not in the slightest bit benevolent like dear old Larry, cheekily fixing the game on his own whim, while still possessing a fantastic temper and gravitas. Fiennes is a fine actor but sorely miscast with his watery blue eyes and silly stick on beard. They've got Danny Huston stood around on set as a two-line Poseidon (surely the actual master of the Kraken, not Hades, given the Kraken is a water beast) -he could have been a genuinely malevolent Hades in Fiennes place. Sadly not. The rest of the Gods don't even feature beyond out of focus background dressing. The plot for what it is hangs together on an ultimatum that seems eventually to mean nothing: sacrifice Andromeda or Argos will be destroyed. Argos gets pretty well obliterated before the Kraken even gets to the sacrificial altar, so what's the point of that?
As for Perseus the whole audience was sniggering from the start at the fact a fisherman's son has a miltary crew cut while his father, and in fact every single other person in the film, has long hair tied back - and mostly looking pretty good for it. Worthington looks out of place from start to finish, and struggles with a damp fish of a script. He needs to work on his accent as well, because he'd never been from anywhere other than barely concealed Australia yet. Gemma Arterton looks pretty, but is also pretty uninteresting thanks to her tacked on role in the script as well. The rest have little to nothing else to do.
So, what works? Pegasus works. I liked the concept of Charon actually being part of his own ferry (a "Ferry-man" indeed). Liam Cunningham brings some welcome dry humour as one of the warriors (forget the names, I couldn't tell you a single one... that's how important they are to the overall story) And Jason Flemyng is an interesting Calibos (but by contrast no where near as scary or as complex a character as in the original - cursed and vengeful, but also a figure of pity).
If you're prepared not to worry too much about the nonsense of a script and just watch guys running around with swords and stubble for a couple of hours it's challenge free viewing... I hoped for a lot more given the potential and the budget, and fans of the original CotT will probably feel the same way. Oh, there's a short nod to those fans too in the shape of a clockwork owl who is dismissed as worthless at the start of the mission - the screen writers would have been wiser to invest some of the charm and wonder of the original into their version rather than smugly dismiss the original film - they ended up producing an vastly inferior product.
And now...as a palate cleanser I'm going to watch some real special effects care of Mr. Harryhausen. |
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silly
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."
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Posted - 04/09/2010 : 01:15:24
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Well said! I can't add a lot to that.
We recently watched Percy Jackson, so my kids and I have been discussing mythology some recently. This movie kind of threw some names around, but like you said, there was nothing to it - you knew certain characters had to make it to the end, you knew others were expendable (in Star Trek they would have worn the red shirts, that predictable).
I think the main reason my son wanted to see it was the big monster, and he still goes around saying "Release the cracker!" Which gives me a bigger smile than anything in the actual film.
I've been watching Black Dynamite to cleanse the palate; it's working  |
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Clash of the Titans
