Clash of the Titans [2-D] (**½)

Directed by: Louis Leterrier

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelsen, Pete Postlethwaite

Seen: April 16^th 2010

**½ Out of ****

Clash of the Titans is director Louis Leterrier’s fifth feature length film, and he delivers the goods in very much the same way he did in his other movies (Transporter 1 and 2, Unleashed and The Incredible Hulk) – excitement and hectic action rules the day. Clash of the Titans is fun and intense with actors channelling their best old-school warriors or noble ladies; or a combination of the two in the case of Gemma Arterton as Io, Perseus’ (Worthington) protector.

The story is ancient Greek myth, and tells of the demigod Perseus, son of Zeus (Neeson), and his fight to save humanity from the shady machinations of Hades (Fiennes). The gods are losing their power and influence in the world of man, and because of this they unleash Hades on man, as they believe a bit of fear might make man think again as to his allegiances. The biggest threat looming over mankind is the Kraken, a creation of Hades locked up in the ocean, and one that Hades can’t wait to unleash on the city of Argos in ten days. That is if Argos fails to sacrifice their princess, Andromeda (Davalos) by then.

The city is full of peasants calling for this sacrifice, but a saviour is on the way, in the form of a young man called Perseus, who initially has no idea regarding his own lineage. All he knows is that his earthly father, Spyros (Postlethwaite), found him drifting in a coffin in the ocean and raised him like his own. He learns that Io has been looking after him all along when he comes to Argos and is not killed when Hades kills a group of soldiers and sets the previously mentioned 10 day ultimatum. Persues joins a group of soldiers in the Praetorian Guard, lead by Draco (Mikkelsen), on the mission to save mankind and on the way is confronted by many things weird and wonderful and terrifying.

The creatures in Clash of the Titans are spectacularly well done, especially the massive Scorpions and the Kraken (even though the colossus’ screen time is rather limited). The scorpions first attempt to murder them and are then tamed by the Djinn, sand-demons with strange powers. There are the Stygian Withces who between the three of them has one future-seeing eye; Medusa, a giant half human, half snake creature; the Harpies Hades morphs into; Pegasus, the winged horse Perseus rides to the rescue and also a quick cameo appearance early on of the mechanical owl Bubo, which will leave most in the dark while pleasing a few older fans.

The special effects are huge and impressive, the fighting scenes are up close and aggressive, and the drama is nothing more than perfunctory to advance the story. Initially the whole feel of the movie is entirely too much that of a big play being setup on screen, with the dialogue feeling unnaturally adapted in order to get the characters’ names across, almost making it feel at times like a who’s who in the Greek mythology zoo. Sam Worthington is the newest king of blockbusters, and he replicates his almost mechanical appearances from his previous two movies, Terminator Salvation and Avatar. A friend mentioned that the scenes in Olympus where the gods view the world from their vantage point seems like a shiny golden version of the Weakest Link, and thinking back on it made me realise that the simile is warranted, down to the banishing of contestants from the show when Zeus commands the other gods, who are not even identified in the movie, to leave him and Hades alone.

So there you have it, if you’re going to look for reasons to be disappointed, you will be, but if you’re going to simply enjoy a big-action, big-budget, cool-looking blockbuster, that’s exactly what you’ll get, enjoyment. And don’t bother with 3-D; Clash of the Titans was filmed in 2-D and then hastily converted to 3-D in a desperate attempt from the studios to make more money. I for one enjoyed the 2-D version a lot, not once wondering how it would have looked in 3-D. Clash of the Titans is 2-D big screen entertainment, pure and simple.