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Bookmark this pageClash of the Titans (2010)
Director: Louis Leterrier
Movie review
From Time Out London
For the past year, 3D has been a guarantee of box-office gold, as proven by the runaway success of ‘Avatar’. But now, for the first time, a film arrives for which the 3D element may prove to be a commercial hindrance. It’s not only that ‘Clash of the Titans’ will compete with ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘Avatar’ for the nation’s 3D screens. More critically than that, the film's conversion to 3D (a decision taken late in the filmmaking process) has rendered this campy, unashamedly old-school but still highly enjoyable blockbuster rather painful to watch.In story terms, ‘Clash of the Titans’ doesn't stray too far from the beloved 1981 Ray Harryhausen classic which spawned it. The setting is mythical Ancient Greece – an age of Gods, monsters and muscular men in little chainmail skirts. Sam Worthington is Perseus, an orphaned demi-God drawn into the battle between man and the immortals when Hades (Ralph Fiennes), lord of the underworld, threatens to unleash his great sea-beast, the Kraken, on the city of Argos. Accompanied by a ragtag band of warriors, Perseus sets off to learn the secrets of the Kraken and end the reign of the Gods once and for all.
There’s no ignoring the fact that ‘Clash of the Titans’ is a mess: the plot is episodic and rushed, the dialogue blunt and occasionally laughable, and there are far too many characters, few of whom leave much of an impression. Both Worthington and love interest Gemma Arterton look like they’re on a strenuous Aegean package holiday, but luckily they’re surrounded by the likes of Fiennes, Pete Postlethwaite and Liam Neeson as Zeus, whose commanding, armour-clad presence seems, at times, to be the only thing holding this crumbling edifice together.
Other notable names don’t fare so well: Danny Huston gets a mighty fake beard but just one line as sea-God Poseidon, Mads Mikkelsen does little more than bare his teeth as burly swordsman Draco and, most egregiously, Jason Flemyng gets a terrific backstory and some superb melting-face makeup as ruined ruler Calibos – and that's it. It's is a recurring problem throughout the film: with dialogue and character motivation cut back to the bare minimum, there’s no way for anyone to express themselves except through action.
But, luckily, this is where ‘Clash of the Titans’ succeeds. Whatever the flaws in the script, there’s no faulting director Louis Leterrier’s visual ambition: this is a film of mighty vistas, beautifully designed beasts and intense, well-structured combat sequences, all rendered in eye-popping, though still rather fake-looking, CGI. Taking the lessons of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to heart, Leterrier goes all-out for excess: his computer-generated camera soars above sprawling cities, endless deserts and blasted underworld hellscapes, lending the film a dizzying, epic scale.
A shame, then, that the addition of 3D has rendered much of this grandeur all but unwatchable, blurring the image to a headache-inducing degree and adding absolutely nothing to a film which was obviously shot in two dimensions and should have stayed that way. As an experiment in high-Hollywood style over substance, ‘Clash of the Titans’ is a very entertaining ride. But take our advice: sidestep the 3D and see it the old fashioned way.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2067: 1–7 April, 2010
User reviews of this film
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- iamgracie said...
- Posted on Aug 28 2010 23:48 The movie was great -- if you're not aware of the "real" mythological story behond Perseus. The story was so different from Greek Mythology! Like in the film, Acricius was the husband of Danae, Perseus mother. However, in mythology, Acricious was Danae's father. And at the end of the film, Andromeda didn't get to marry Perseus, when in Mythology, he did. Anyway, the movie effects were great. It's very fast paced, makes your heart beat faster.
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- mike said...
- Posted on May 30 2010 20:43 rubbish and please give me my money back
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- RCO'G said...
- Posted on May 11 2010 17:26 Took my young cousins, lads both, to see this and it occured to me that I was around their age when the original Oliver "Clash" came out in the Eighties. They enjoyed it tremendously and what the Hades so did I. In fairness to Director Louis Leterrier he paces and moves the story along with a lot more urgency than most established practicioners of the genre the biggest problem is Worthington who never sells it. Still there's Neeson and Fiennes having fun hamming it up and Lads on mid term or of middle age could do worse than Gemma Arterton as Io and Alexa Davalos as Andromeda.
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- Ali said...
- Posted on May 11 2010 16:10 Rubbish
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- sarwar ahmed said...
- Posted on May 11 2010 16:08 Very very cool.
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- sarwar ahmed said...
- Posted on May 11 2010 16:08 Very very cool.
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- sarwar ahmed said...
- Posted on May 11 2010 16:08 Very very cool.
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- Lian said...
- Posted on May 06 2010 10:57 Speak on a next review depending on what im watching any ideas anyone.
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- Lian said...
- Posted on May 06 2010 10:54 Sam you cheered my day when i came on here to read the comments that have been wrote back. hehe. Im giving up arguing like people have said, its a comment website. And i will leave it at that people.
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- ANTH said...
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Posted on May 06 2010 01:40
yeaaarghhhh.............
IT SPEAKS.......... - Report as inappropriate
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on May 05 2010 17:37 Andy just because I don't like this film doesn't mean to say I hate all films. Speaking of 6 year olds, they will love this!
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- andy said...
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Posted on May 04 2010 19:09
Yes Lian, it IS a review site, one that encourages(as many forums also do)great exchanges between ordinary film buffs about the films we are all paying to go and enjoy(or pay and hate in noctor's case) so I think you are kind of missing the point though Lian.The way you put your points accross gives people an impression of who you are. This, in turn, goes with the review that you leave.If the review appears to be written by an incoherant 6 year old with learning difficulties and no understanding of basic sentence construction and grammar,then the said reviewer is bound to receive scorn are they not?
Primarily because the facts of life are this.If you can not articulate your views properly,then who cares what they are???
4 star film - Report as inappropriate
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- Delboy281 said...
- Posted on May 03 2010 16:29 Oh and i meant something lol it was a typo :(
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- Delboy281 said...
- Posted on May 03 2010 16:27 Please guys, i came to this site to look for reviews on a film, not to view this idiot talk. This is a review page not a chat room or an English lesson!!! To anyone else sorry for posting this as its also not relevant to this page but unfortunatly somethink had to be said.
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- jules said...
- Posted on Apr 30 2010 19:54 film made for brainless spectators, pathetic...
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Cast & crew
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Gemma Arterton, Nicholas Hoult, Alexa Davalos, Jason Flemyng, Mads Mikkelsen, Pete Postlethwaite, Tamer Hassan, Liam Cunningham
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Rated: 12A
Duration: 97 mins
UK Release: Apr 2 2010
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