If you are looking for big, over-the-top, headache-inducing action and 3D effects then look no further than Clash of the Titans. This 2010 remake of the camp 1981 classic is wrong in so many ways. The plot, dialogue, acting - it is all pretty laughable and whilst you may find hours of amusement reciting lines like “Release the Kracken!” and “Ease your storm”, this sensation will wear off when you come to the full realisation that you paid over $20 p.p. (btw if the cinema makes you pay for the 3D glasses those are yours - don’t put them in the return bin) to go see a terrible film.
Set in Ancient Greece, the plot of Clash of the Titans sees growing tension between the gods and mankind being exploited by Hades (Ralph Fiennes, The English Patient) who wants to take over power from his brother, Zeus (Liam Neeson, Taken). When Hades attacks a group of soldiers cutting down a deity’s statue, a fishing boat is also drawn into the ruckus and all but one of its inhabitants is killed. Perseus (Sam Worthington, Avatar), the survivor, is taken to Argos with the remaining soldiers where Hades gives the city one chance to avoid destruction, they have 10 days to sacrifice the beautiful princess (Alexa Davalos, Defiance) or the Kracken will be unleashed. Perseus, who also happens to be a demi-god- the son of Zeus, leads a team of soldiers on a mission to find a way to defeat the monster. Helping guide Perseus on this deadly mission is Lo (Gemma Arterton, Quantum of Solace) another beautiful women, cursed to never grow old after refusing the advances of a god.
This plot is used solely to maximise opportunities for special effects, ignoring any exploration of the moralities of power. This means that the actors seem little more than puppets, in whom neither the director, Louis Leterrier, nor the audience have/can invest any emotion. While Neeson and Fiennes seem to be having fun overacting to the hilt (and collecting tasty pay checks), Worthington is painfully uneasy and is given remarkably few lines for a leading character. Perhaps most wasteful is the casting of Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) as Poseidon, the poor guy spent more time getting into the costume than on the screen. You also have to think that Danish actor Mads Mikkelson (After the Wedding) deserved much better than Draco the stoic, many hair-plaited leader of the soldiers.
Read the full review at Trespass
