The gods must be crazy, but how would we know?

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2010)

I think you'll find just as many people love Clash of the Titans as those who do not love it. I went with the boy (who is actually 18, for those of you who are not familiar with his nickname). We were both underwhelmed. In fact, when the credits started to roll, he took off his 3-D glasses, looked at me and said, "Well, that sucked." That warranted a smack from me, because he's not allowed to use that word around me. I forced him to be more specific in his criticism, and as it turns out, we totally agreed on our review.
Good news first. Sam Worthington is terrific, as Perseus. I think the production value is high. The movie, the settings, look beautiful. It's an interesting story. The set up is good. I am sad when Perseus' human family dies. After that, though, it's all a blur of action and mess. It seems like they're trying to cram every detail of the Greek epic plus every effect and monster possible into 90 minutes. None of the characters are developed enough in that time. How could they be, when they're fighting monsters and on an adventure and there's an Olympus back story? If all the warriors on the odyssey were actors I already knew, maybe I could keep them straight. But, I don't, and I don't get to know them, and therefore, I don't care when things happen to them. It's not that the characters aren't interesting. I would love to see a movie and learn more about Andromeda and Draco and these two crazy brothers who like to hunt things.
At this point, I'll defer to my son's review. He says he wished the movie was longer so we could get more character development. He liked another epic guy, Jinn, but said he didn't learn anything about him, over the course of the movie, and that was frustrating.
"It seems like these guys know each other for five minutes, then they're like, Hey, we're not coming with you but here is this cool shield. Andromeda is like, hey, I gave you a cup of water, now you should be my king." We both would have preferred a movie even 30-45 minutes longer that left us more satisfied.
While the 3-D is good, the creatures all seem cobbled together from other films. There is a cute homage to the original Clash of the Titans. Our disappointment is more pronounced, because this cast is really good. The acting and characters could have elevated the movie above the effects, given time to develop. We give Clash of the Titans a 6 out of 10.