Dumped on the Greek myths even more than the first one did...

Rating: 1/10 (10 September 2010)

OK, the first Clash of the Titans didn't follow the Greek myths exactly. Aphrodite gave Perseus his weapons, not Athena, for example and it was Ray Harryhausen who wanted a Kraken because he hadn't done a stop motion Kraken, since there wasn't one in the myth.
But at least the old version had a romance, charm, the silly owl and witty banter between the Gods. Here, there isn't the majesty of Athena with her owl or Hera with her peacock, only Zeus and Hades in an almost Christian aimed fight of good and evil that doesn't line up with Greek myths or ancient Greek culture. Hades has winged demons, red eyes and basically is like the devil, which he isn't in Greek myth. He just guards the underworld. Poseidon barely makes an appearance as does Apollo...I got sort of nostalgic for the dialog between Hera and Zeus which isn't here. Aphrodite is just an extra here too...and at least the old version had one Titan, Thetis, in it...this one has none. It cuts out most of the dialog of the Gods that appeared in the original and that was what I wanted to see. I thought Zeus with the eagle in the background on the trailer led me to believe Hera would be there with her peacock and Athena with her owl. It's like none of the Greek Goddesses even had a voice there. That's really sexist.
The charm of the Gods' dialog and other things has been taken over by dark Hot Topic like cool. Gone is Perseus' mother who played a big part in the myth. Gone is the challenge Perseus had to get the Medusa head in order for his mother to not be forced into marriage she didn't want. Gone is the romance with Andromeda, who he falls in love with from returning from his quest. Gone are most of the Olympians, since this has to be only a bland good vs. evil movie. Gone are the Hesperides too. A plot line to save family is whittled into a boring revenge movie because a guy can't get some fish in his boat.
There are other things wrong with this movie too. The Medusa has a pretty face for some reason. And a metal hip Hot Topic metal hand piece. Rock and roll. I don't get it. I feel the story of Perseus is very interesting if you follow the myth so why this garbage? It feels like the screenwriters have never read a lick of Greek mythology. I mean, they call Pegasus "The Pegasus" which really bothered me and the horse was black, not white. And there was a herd of them. Zeus' eagle is now a bald eagle, is that supposed to be a US metaphor or something? Poseidon and/or Athena created Pegasus, only one of them. And what was up with Io? She's from another myth. Cursed with not being a cow, but with immortality. What? And Charon looked like a bad Halloween store prop. And Hades comes also to reek revenge when Andromeda is said to be more beautiful than Aphrodite...I was expecting Aphrodite to come to bash heads, but she didn't. And the Djinn, why where they even there? Wrong mythology. Which throws Islam into the already Christian Zeus (God)/Hades (devil), Perseus (Jesus) framework. It's such a mess, I don't know what else to say about that.
This movie is like a vampire, sucking any joy out of the myths. They replaced a story about how a man tried to destroy his son because of an omen and turned it into a lackluster adventure film. It has no heart, no decent acting other than Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, but really, give them a phone book to read and it would be worth while to see. I started fast forwarding through it once I saw Hera wasn't around to counter Zeus, nor Athena with her owl. Disappointing. The rest was lame adventure film with OK special effects. I wish it could have had more story or once closer to the Greek myths. Like I said the first version messed up Greek myth a bit but at least had charm. It was fun, it uplifted you at the end, kids could see it, it was more of a family film. This is pure dreck. It's devoid of any values, moral quests since in the myth Perseus is trying to help his mom, romance or anything joyful. It's just dark and vapid. Eye candy for those who don't have the patience to read a book on Greek myths.