Lower your expectations... and see it on 2-D instead.

Rating: 7/10 (20 April 2010)

With the right expectations, CLASH OF THE TITANS is a pretty enjoyable update of the 1981 minor fantasy classic if you can forgive some of the absurdities of the script. I loved the original CLASH OF THE TITANS but I don't see anything wrong about remaking it, and when I saw the trailers I knew what to expect: A bone-headed, old school adventure movie with lots of action despite only having half a plot. I went in with little expectations and got out just fine, and provided that you don't expect anything else, you will too. And oh yeah, take everyone's advice and see it on 2-D. I took the advice to not see it on 3-D and seeing that the movie is not as bad as everyone has said it was, I think you should to.
Turns out director Louis Leterrier and writers Travis Beacham, Phil May, and Matt Manfredi have done more than update Ray Harryhausen's vintage claymation monsters. Other than amping up the action, they have also added and changed several elements in the script. But despite a few decent additions, none of them really add much. The whole plot about mortals doing war with the gods might have been intriguing, but it's all played rather silly here. How do the brave warriors of Argos plan to fight the gods with only swords and spears? These, along with a few other inconsistencies just make the story a little confusing. And typical to any modern action/adventure movie, our hero Perseus (played by Sam Worthington) has to have a tragic background so he can hate the gods throughout the whole movie and get the job done the dirtiest way possibly. Does every action hero today have no other motive than a vendetta? Despite their best efforts, none of the performances really connected with me (Gemma Atherton's Io came close, but whatever she had with Perseus wasn't deeply ventured and therefore utterly forgettable). However, I enjoyed big-time actors like Liam Neeson (who performs his now-famous 3-word line immortally) and Ralph Fiennes (who does another sneering Lord Voldemort impression) who had a ball as some of the immortals.
But other than these several alternations, the movie is fairly faithful to the original, only 10 times bigger. You thought a fight with giant scorpions was cool? How about one with giant scorpions 10 times bigger? You think the Kraken is huge? This one makes the one in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 look camera-shy. But this gives and takes from the experience. The action sequences are quite exciting, even without the use of distracting 3-D. But on the other hand, it's as if Leterrier wants every moment of the movie to be loud and amped-up. Even the encounter with the Stygian Witches (who looked like they came out from PAN'S LABYRINTH) isn't devoid of a shaky action sequence. Nevertheless, the many special effects are pretty good and some of the action sequences they're in are some of the film's highlights. The aforementioned scorpion duel has to stand as my favorite, but there's also the battle in Medusa's lair (surprisingly enjoyable, but lacking the suspense from the one in the original) and the final stand-off with the Kraken.
It won't be another fantasy film favorite like the original, but if you don't expect nothing more than a popcorn-movie that does what it's supposed to do, CLASH OF THE TITANS ain't have bad. Perhaps just for Neeson's delivery of his immortal "Release the Kraken!" in all its glory, this movie is worth seeing.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.