Movie Review

Within the last few years, we have been blessed with remakes of older movies and TV shows adapted to the theater. Some are great, but some are a bust that, frankly, we want to forget.

With the original “Clash of the Titans” movie that came out in 1981 such a smash hit, can this remake do any justice?

“Clash of the Titans” relives a classic Greek tale of the three brothers, Zeus, the god of the sky, Poseidon, god of the sea, and Hades, the god of the underworld. They were brothers who overcame their parents to rule the worlds.

The Greek gods who created man are not receiving any prayers, and are upset with mankind. On the flipside of the coin, mankind on earth is feeling that they are being taken advantage by gods.

Zeus, played by Liam Neeson, (Schindler’s List, Taken) is vicious and greedy. Through all the classic Greek plays and cinema, I have never seen a Zeus that seemed unworthy of title or respect.

Hades is played by Ralph Fiennes (English Patient, Harry Potter) who is better known as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, or the evil Nazi general in Schindler’s List. He plays a great villainous character again, as the god who wants to overthrow Zeus, and who gets stronger as the hatred of mankind towards Zeus increases.

Playing Perseus, Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation) was found by a fisherman when he was a baby. The demy-god (half man, half god) struggles with the idea that Zeus can treat mankind so wrong, and joins the crusade with the other men to overcome the gods and be free of them.

The film is very entertaining. It wasn’t long and drawn out.

The story shows that ignorance and stubbornness is only a weakness, and not the solution.

The “game of chess” acted by Fiennes, Worthington and Neeson works well throughout the film.

One of the surprise key actors in the film, Alexa Davalos (Defiance, The Mist) who plays Andromeda, does a great job opposite Worthington.

There are weaknesses in the story however.

At the beginning they talk about the three brother gods, but Poseidon isn’t shown or even mentioned in the rest of the film!

In fact, the film could’ve been called Zeus versus Hades, with mankind as the prize. It was a bit difficult to figure out who were the bad guys, and who were not.

In fact, everyone seemed corrupted and not really likeable, except for Perseus.

This film was cheesy at times, and predicable. But it was fun to watch a film that went back to the traditional sci-fi/fantasy type of film.

With the giant scorpions and a beast called the kraken, it didn’t leave a dull moment on screen.

It isn’t worth seeing in 3D, so save your dollars and watch it in 2-D.

I recommend seeing this film, if you are looking for a fun time at the movies.

If you like this film, I recommend:

Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix
(2007)
Clash of the Titans
(1981)
The Point (1978)
DVD of the Week for
Children:
The Sandlot (1993)
DVD of the Week
for Adults:
Field of Dreams (1989)
DVD of the Week for
Movie Addicts:
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Golden Classic Pick of
the Week:
High Noon (1952)