Quite good. Ish.

Rating: 7/10 (5 April 2010)

Ray Harryhausen's brand of fantasy was very much to my taste. Harryhausen was cutting edge at the time, but the cutting edge has moved on and I have long wondered what would be the results if Harryhausen's films were to be revisited using state of the art CGI.
Now we have the answer.
This film, though quite clearly based on Harryhausen's original, plays fast and loose with some elements of it but, since the original played fast and loose with myth (both versions feature the Kraken, from Norse myth, for instance) I don't suppose one can complain too much.
There are things to like and things to regard as less than wonderful. Things to like - the effects, for a starter. They are excellent. Mythological monsters have never looked so real. They have followed Harryhausen's design for Medusa, but improved her by way of her having a beautiful face. I would have welcomed her having some dialogue. Ralph Fiennes is a splendidly villainous Hades, Alexa Davalos works wonders with a dismayingly underwritten Andromeda, and Gemma Arterton effortlessly walks away with every scene she is in. I'm glad the comedy owl from the original puts in an appearance, but I'm even more glad that it is no more than a 10 second cameo.
On to the less positive aspects. The 3D adds nothing (as a major 3D fan, it saddens me to say this - see How To Train Your Dragon in 3D, and this one flat). The constantly moving camera during action sequences (Bourne syndrome) is dreadfully distracting. The story is mostly fine, although it loses something by having Perseus' quest driven by anger rather than the need to save Andromeda - a bit of romance would have been welcome. The script is no more than serviceable. Most of the characters are pure cardboard, and Sam Worthington brings no more to Perseus than Harry Hamlin did.
Incidentally, I have noted people commenting that Sam Worthington's accent slips from time to time and his natural Aussie shows through, but I don't think he's actually doing an accent - I think he is au naturel throughout.
If I am honest, the original Clash Of The Titans was essentially an insubstantial romp with great monsters; this remake is pretty much the same.