Sunday, April 18, 2010

Clash of the Titans review

I'm getting this review done first, because it's fresh in my mind; I just watched it yesterday.

As I've said before, I'm a creative writer. In the creative writing circles, there is a saying that there are no new stories, just new ways of telling stories. Which is why we get the 2010 remake of the 1981 movie Clash of the Titans.

Keeping this short and sweet, I don't think that I really can ruin the plot of the movie. If you haven't heard of Perseus like I did in grade 9 English class, then check out the Wiki article. Yeah, not the most reliable of reference material, but the links from there are pretty good.

The re-make gets some of the details wrong. Like the fact that Perseus actually marries Andromeda, and it's Poseidon that releases Cetus, a sea serpent not a kracken, and some other details. Of course, the film-makers could be a bit confused given the different traditions in the story, but still... we in the West seem to have it in our brains that anyone who rules the Underworld must be the bad guy, and it comes out strongly. Not saying that Hades isn't a jerk; the gods all were jerks at one point or another, but he actually wasn't the bad guy in this story.

These details, however, don't really distract much from the fact that the only real improvement between this and the 1981 movie is the special effects. The movie is awesome for the special effects. The transition from a 80s movie to a 21th century movie really did not go over so well, replacing the romantic sub-plot with Perseus' shallow identity crisis.

From what I understand, there is another version of this movie that's probably written better, and was re-shot and edited at practically last minute. The actors did the best they could, but the movie really suffered from the plot. I may have made mocking remarks during... well, most of it, but the battle scenes were what I was looking forward to throughout the movie.

I don't suggest seeing it in 3D, since I'm not entirely sure it's worth seeing in theatres. Oh sure, it's certainly fun to see in theatres, but the price tag these days... if you have a large screen tv, wait for the DVD.

~ Corina

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