Forget the Titans

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2010)

Ray Harryhausen would have been rolling in his grave. The special effects in the update of Clash of the Titans are entirely done by computer. Quite obviously, a lot has changed since the 1981 version, some for the better but most for the worse. The new Clash of the Titans is enjoyable at times, but most of the time, it is boring and tiresome. Some of the action sequences are cool, but these sequences cannot make one forget the horrible acting and silly script.
The remake of Clash of the Titans follows a similar plot to the original. In ancient Greece, the people have turned against the gods. Zeus (Liam Neeson) is extremely mad and decides to punish the people of Greece. When Zeus vows to kill Andromeda, the beautiful princess, the people assemble a group of warriors to fight back before Andromeda dies. Perseus (Sam Worthington), a demigod who also happens to be the son of Zeus, is chosen as one of these warriors.
The movie's uneven pacing is responsible for why it is so boring sometimes. The movie trudges along for the first 45 minutes, in which barely anything happens. But after it is done being slow and eventless, the plot ends up moving too fast, skipping most of the good parts. The action sequences are, for the most, part slick and fun to watch, but unfortunately, there are only three of them. All of this can be attributed to a bad script that makes no sense and forces the actors to spew sentences that sound strange and unbelievable. On top of all this, the acting is terrible, which makes the delivery of these lines even harder to like. Sam Worthington's dull acting lends no help to the movie's problems or the audience's interest. But an acceptable performance from Liam Neeson is not horrible to watch.
The film's other main problem is that it takes itself way too seriously. The old 80's version felt hokey and fun, while this one wants to be good so desperately that it constantly trips over its own feet. At least the old film has not been completely forgotten. Fans of the old version will be pleased to see Bubo, the mechanical owl, making a brief appearance. Louis Leterrier's clever placement of allusions to the 80's version let me appreciate the film a little more because it showed that the film was not only a remake, but a homage at heart. Still, the older version remains far superior.
3-D cannot save this film. Clash of the Titans is somewhat fun, but mostly forgettable due to a poor script, B-movie style acting, and a lack of action. Although Leterrier has left a few hints that he still cares about the original, the movie is too serious and not hokey enough. Even with 3-D, the film still feels dimensionless and contrived most of the time.