What do you expect out of this sort of thing?

Rating: 5/10 (10 September 2010)

The new Clash of the Titans does show off all the advances in special effects made since the original back in 1981. But while the first one wasn't exactly a masterpiece of storytelling, this remake might be even dumber and a bit more obviously slapped together. I don't think these filmmakers tried to make a good movie. I think they tried to make a big, loud, flashy distractionand they succeeded at that.
At a time when humanity is rebelling against the dominion of the Olympian gods, young Perseus (Sam Worthington) sees his family killed by Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the lord of the underworld. Perseus finds himself in the city of Argos just as it threatened with divine destruction. For its defiance of the gods, Argos must either sacrifice the beautiful Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) or be destroyed in 10 days by the monstrous Kraken. Perseus sets out on a quest to find a way to defeat the giant beast, but not before learning that he is the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson). Joined by a small band of warriors and an immortal girl named Io (Gemma Arterton), Perseus battles a series of CGI creatures and one dude in traditional monster make up.
This film looks good, though it doesn't come close to the visual magic of Avatar. It moves relatively quickly, has a few honestly funny lines and its action scenes are both reasonably exciting and comprehensible. Very little of it makes sense if you think too hard, but who goes to see a movie like this to think?
None of the performers embarrass themselves here, though none of them are asked to do more than the acting equivalent of walking and chewing gun at the same time. Only actresses Gemma Arterton and Alexa Davalos are noteworthy, each making a real effort to give depth to roles that don't ask them to do more than look pretty (which they also do quite well). Sam Worthington continues the trend toward more straightforward and unflamboyant action heroes. He's little more than a crash test dummy in this film as what little characterization there is in this script gets sprinkled among the supporting roles/cannon fodder.
The new Clash of the Titans isn't "good" in any meaningful sense of the word. For a big budget blockbuster, though, it isn't noticeably bad. The bar for these sorts of movies has sadly been set rather low and this film barely manages to get over it. If you like this sort of cinema, you'll have a decent time. If you loathe this sort of brain-optional spectacle, there's nothing here to change your mind.