“Clash of the Titans” chronicles the adventures of Perseus (Sam Worthington), who is part man and part god. In the ancient Greek world, this demigod’s father is Zeus (Liam Neeson), king of the gods. As a baby Perseus is cast into the sea to die by an evil king, but he is saved by a fisherman and his wife. The fisherman and his wife raise Perseus as their own, teaching him the simple ways of their trade.
Meanwhile, the people of Greece grow tired of appeasing the gods and the citizens of Argos declare war on the gods. Their declaration of war angers Zeus, who decides to allow his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes), god of the underworld, to unleash his evil wrath upon the humans. Hades tells the humans that he will set his beast the Kraken upon the people of Argos in retaliation for their bold acts unless they sacrifice the princess of Argos.
Perseus is present in Argos for Hades’ ultimatum to the people, and he is told of his divine heritage by a mysterious woman named Io (Gemma Atherton). He is hurriedly convinced that he is the only person capable of stopping the gods from exacting their violent plans and he is tasked with leading the crusade to save humanity. Perseus and a group of soldiers from Argos set out on an epic journey which will take them all the way to the underworld and back in order to stop Hades and the Kraken. From there the story for “Clash of the Titans” is really just your standard action adventure film, riddled with difficult side quests that would frustrate any seasoned role-playing gamer.
The art direction is probably the most solid aspect of this film. Presenting a vivid interpretation of ancient times, the costumes and the CG look really cool. Ralph Fiennes as Hades reigns down fire and brimstone and in a way that’s eerily reminiscent of the smoke monster from “Lost.” With makeup, the filmmakers do an excellent job of making him and Liam Neeson look like brothers.
Despite my complaints about the 3-D making my head hurt, there were actually two times where the 3-D impressed me: in a scene from the beginning showing the cosmos and in a scene with the Kraken where ocean foam is being thrashed everywhere. Space looks so beautiful and massive through the lens of 3-D, while the ocean action made me feel like I was being sprayed in the face with seawater.
Pretty visuals though is where the film ceased to amaze me. It’s story is cliché and its dialogue woefully corny. It attempts to make some action movie type one-liners that feel out-of-place in ancient times. Sam Worthington generates a few yucks here and there, though mostly keeping it pretty serious.
His performance is certainly nothing to write home about, but I blame that more on the bad writing. The screenwriters never give enough time to the conflict between Perseus’ human roots and his divine lineage. Worthington seems to roll with the punches like the audience, bouncing from one mini-quest to another, until he finally arrives at the end, taking little time to reflect on where he’s been.
If you like epic action and CG battles then you should probably see this film in the theater, because I don’t think it will have the same re-watch value at home. I’m just glad however that I did not have to pay to see this movie.
My Grade: C-