bizarre retake on an old classic

Rating: Null/10 (4 April 2010)

I loved the 1981 original as a kid and I still remember seeing it in the theater. I didn't expect much from this remake except some enjoyable special effects, and some are indeed there. The battle with the scorpions was fun to watch, and the Kraken was suitably frightening (although its face and mouth resembled the monster in the pit in Tatooine in "Return of the Jedi"). And Medusa's movements were more serpentine, in a very Dante-esquire underworld. My biggest problem with the film, however, was its divergence from the spirit of Greek mythology in favor of a more Judeo-Christian take on the story. The original did a much better job of capturing the "humans as playthings of the gods" angle. In this film, however, Zeus "loves" humans and they are supposed to "love" him back. His anger at this lack of love resembles that of Yahweh in the Old Testament. Hades now takes on the role of Satan. And Perseus is now Christlike- at one point Io tells him "you are part god and part man- but the best of both." Sheesh... Some other minor gripes- the djinn (from Arab mythology) made no sense at all in the course of the story. If some were riding scorpions, why did others have to ride camels (was that the "bitch seat" on their expedition?). And the one that talked sounded like Jabba the Hutt. All in all, some entertainment there, but as lousy an introduction to Greek mythology as "300" was to Greek history.