Movies
Director: Louis Leterrier; Screenwriter: Lawrence Kasdan, Travis Beacham; Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos; Running time: 110 mins; Certificate: 12A
It's about time the world experienced a technological regression with the creation of 1D screens to allow for movies like Clash Of The Titans. Such is the wafer thin characterisation and uninvolving nature of this soulless remake, according it anything more than a solitary dimension is more than it deserves. Not even the classic structure of the plot and procession of growling CGI beasties, a far cry from the 1981 original's inventive stop-motion animation, can raise more than a faint flicker of interest.
The mythical story of demi-God Perseus (Worthington) and his battle against the tyrannical Hades (Fiennes) unfolds in a leaden manner, with the scriptwriters seemingly forgetting to imbue the characters with any semblance of depth. How can we care about the young man's plight when there is nothing to define him by apart from a determined scowl in the face of adversity? Witnessing his adopted family being murdered by Hades provides Perseus with motivation, but not personality. It also doesn't help that an opening voiceover designed to explain the backstory of his genesis is about as engaging as a Latin lesson by the teacher in Charlie Brown.
As Perseus embarks on his quest, supported by a group of caricature Argonauts, he moves from one clash against CGI to another. In between, everyone's dialogue is basically hijacked to batter the audience over the head with warnings of the seemingly insurmountable terrors that must be beaten, plus constant reminders of the motivations of those involved.
A fair amount of criticism was levelled at Avatar for its script, but the staggering visceral powers of the movie provided more than adequate redemption. This is far from the case with Clash Of The Titans, as director Louis Leterrier botches every single action sequence with ridiculously frenetic and shaky camerawork that renders the scenes unwatchable. In comparison, those Happy Slapping videos that surface on YouTube look almost Kubrickian in nature.
It's hard not to feel sorry for the actors involved, given the shortcomings of the writing and direction, but they do themselves no favours at all. Ralph Fiennes, as the banished underworld ruler Hades, adopts a whispering voice that closely resembles Baron Silas Greenback from Danger Mouse, while Gemma Arterton as Perseus's spiritual guardian adopts a monotonous soothing tone that sounds like a voiceover to Marks & Spencer's gourmet food advert. As for Liam Neeson as Zeus, he deserves an Oscar for being dressed to resemble a '70s era Barry Gibb wrapped in tin foil. Just what were they thinking?
Admittedly, some of the sets are impressive - particularly the murky underground river roamed by a ferry pulled by along by dead souls - and the climactic battle with the gigantic Kraken monster is fittingly epic in visual scope. Yet such rare pleasures aren't anywhere near enough to redeem this woeful misfire, which was filmed in 2D but retrofitted with a few ineffective 3D upgraded scenes. Be warned - you'd be better off picking up a blindfold and ear plugs when entering the cinema than a pair of specs.
> What do you think of the movie? Share your views
The mythical story of demi-God Perseus (Worthington) and his battle against the tyrannical Hades (Fiennes) unfolds in a leaden manner, with the scriptwriters seemingly forgetting to imbue the characters with any semblance of depth. How can we care about the young man's plight when there is nothing to define him by apart from a determined scowl in the face of adversity? Witnessing his adopted family being murdered by Hades provides Perseus with motivation, but not personality. It also doesn't help that an opening voiceover designed to explain the backstory of his genesis is about as engaging as a Latin lesson by the teacher in Charlie Brown.
As Perseus embarks on his quest, supported by a group of caricature Argonauts, he moves from one clash against CGI to another. In between, everyone's dialogue is basically hijacked to batter the audience over the head with warnings of the seemingly insurmountable terrors that must be beaten, plus constant reminders of the motivations of those involved.
A fair amount of criticism was levelled at Avatar for its script, but the staggering visceral powers of the movie provided more than adequate redemption. This is far from the case with Clash Of The Titans, as director Louis Leterrier botches every single action sequence with ridiculously frenetic and shaky camerawork that renders the scenes unwatchable. In comparison, those Happy Slapping videos that surface on YouTube look almost Kubrickian in nature.
It's hard not to feel sorry for the actors involved, given the shortcomings of the writing and direction, but they do themselves no favours at all. Ralph Fiennes, as the banished underworld ruler Hades, adopts a whispering voice that closely resembles Baron Silas Greenback from Danger Mouse, while Gemma Arterton as Perseus's spiritual guardian adopts a monotonous soothing tone that sounds like a voiceover to Marks & Spencer's gourmet food advert. As for Liam Neeson as Zeus, he deserves an Oscar for being dressed to resemble a '70s era Barry Gibb wrapped in tin foil. Just what were they thinking?
Admittedly, some of the sets are impressive - particularly the murky underground river roamed by a ferry pulled by along by dead souls - and the climactic battle with the gigantic Kraken monster is fittingly epic in visual scope. Yet such rare pleasures aren't anywhere near enough to redeem this woeful misfire, which was filmed in 2D but retrofitted with a few ineffective 3D upgraded scenes. Be warned - you'd be better off picking up a blindfold and ear plugs when entering the cinema than a pair of specs.
> What do you think of the movie? Share your views
More: Sam Worthington, Movies
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