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What it's about:
After his adoptive father is slain by the god Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the half-man, half-god Perseus (Sam Worthington) is sucked into a massive conflict between the people of Argos and the gods. He takes up the challenge of finding a weapon to protect the city, and wreak vengeance on Hades in the process.
What we thought:
Grecian beefcake slays creature after creature in the name of convoluted rescue plot: this is what made the original Clash of the Titans a great, if mindless, action adventure. The remake, while similarly mindless, and similarly full of monsters and swordplay, feels a little bit empty.
Those of us who end up watching the 2D version of the film may feel there’s just a little something lacking at the core of this blockbuster. Maybe it’s the in-yer-face gimmicks of the 3D version that really round it off (we wouldn’t know), but that wouldn’t be the only missing ingredient. We know what a magnetic lead character looks like (a lot like Maximus in Gladiator, incidentally) and Sam Worthington’s Perseus is not it. He was great in Avatar, he did okay in Terminator, but in Clash of the Titans, Sam’s just a jock in a skirt. For lack of trying or skill, maybe both, the Aussie never conjures a hero befitting of Greek folklore, unless re-imagined as a feature-length Gillette commercial.
The story is flimsy, but damning this movie for its narrative arch is missing the point. We’re here for the heroics and decapitations, popcorn at the ready, and that should be the measure of this film’s success. So, forgettable lead notwithstanding, Clash of the Titans does deliver on the action front.
Perseus jabs, stabs and serrates his way through an impressive cast of monsters, including the fabled Medusa. It certainly doesn’t reach the pace or the intensity of last year’s Transformers 2, to give you some idea, but if you can bear some hammy performances from the actors, the CGI action sequences can almost make up for it.
As far as blockbusters go, Clash of the Titans is more of an appetiser for the US summer season than a box office beast in its own right. If you love your myths and monsters, there’s some fun to be had, but discerning action lovers are advised to be patient for a few more weeks.
