A personal review from a non-bias mind

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2010)

This review is seeing the moving, not in 3-D, but merely in a normal theater. Is the best time to write a review immediately after you see a movie? I have not the answer to this, but I will say that this review is coming from someone who has just walked away from the theater with the fresh perspective of "Clash of the Titans" (the new version) in his mind (4 April, 2010, 1830). Also to note that this review comes from a male, age 29, who saw the movie first as a young child, and again in his teens. Now that the remake has been created and aired for a new generation, it's only fair to offer a perspective (perhaps in the cliché of 'old vs. new' or just in a recap of how I remembered the original vs. how this new feature holds out. Now, from memory (as I've not seen the original in at least eight years), I recall events as follows: Precious gets first the gifts of the invisible helmet and the sword (of which he then fights and bests the Minotaur who gets his revenge later via the help of his mother (long story, watch the movie)), visits the three witches, touches the 'seeing orb'(which magically gives his cloak the ability to withstand the Medusa's blood), gets the information he needs, kills the Medusa, wraps her head in his now enchanted cloak (to protect from her acidic blood –honestly this PREDATES ALIEN so please do not think they are ripping off "Alien"); Somewhere in this, the Gods give him another gift, the mechanical owl. The Minotaur then stabs the head (through the cloak while the party sleeps), shedding her blood, creating the giant scorpions, in which he (Precious) fights and defeats. After which, a few more events happen that I think are merely padding the movie; In any case, Precious then gets to the Kraken with the head of Medusa, and petrifies it and thus the movie (more or less) ends and everyone's happy. The new movie: First Precious (as a young man) fights giant scorpions, then denies his father's request to join the gods, (somewhere in there is a small cameo of the mechanical owl, I think merely to please the fans of the original movie because no exposition is given as to 'what it is' or 'why it is' or 'what it's for', and no mention of the invisible helmet), then after a battle against the scorpions, they ride the scorpions (damn I wish I were making this up) to the witches, where he gets the knowledge of how to defeat the Kraken by using Medusa's head. No mention of her blood, and as the scorpions have already been dealt with there is no need for the Minotaur to come back to 'create' them. Well, also in the mess the Pegasus (now black instead of white – yeah just go with it) makes two appearances – first as an 'up yours', secondly as an "okay you can ride me". Cue the release of the Kraken, a cliché chase scene (of I think what are supposed to be wraiths or winged demons), the retrieval of the Medusa head, and the destruction of the Kraken and a "happily ever after" ending. I don't bash this new movie as much as you might think from my rehash of it (despite its chronological inconsistencies with the first and cameos which have zero point in the movie other than to please fans and the omission of key plot points), I merely state that I am more or less at a neutral stance with the movie. New audiences must have "CG" interface and at least a few flashy special effects to fully appreciate a movie these days (or at least it seems, given how Hollywood is staying to this formula) and I am no fool to think that stop-motion animation is in any way superior to today's CG effects (I merely respect the work and time it takes to create stop-motion, and for the time in which it was most prevalent, it was state-of-the-art). All I speak of is that this movie seems to be a "spring blockbuster", targeted at new audiences and for a new generation. Do I, particularly, find the movie enjoyable? Yes. Would I re commend it - Depends on who you are. I say it is a good experience and perhaps worth the cost of a ticket, but if you enter the movie bent on a step-by-step comparison of the original, you will be disappointed. Watch the movie for what it is, and you will be pleased, but this movie is a 'stand-alone'. I do not feel it is supposed to be compared to the original. The story's chronology is skewed, and you may question 'what's the point' of certain scenes (if not attempting to at least appease the original fan base). Like it or hate it, but the movie doesn't insult the story "Clash of the Titans", it merely is retelling it. Much how history is told two separate ways from two different sources, so can this story be told differently, based on the source material. Of course the entire story is fiction, but if it were 'fact', and you had both telling of the story, you may not know which to believe in its entirety, however you will agree that based on both telling, some events coincide and others are there, merely in a different order. While that won't give you the 'whole' story, at least you will be satisfied in knowing "these events took place". Fiction aside, I would say "see it", if merely for a fresh, new generation, perspective.