Clash of the Titans (2010)

Clash of the Titans *** (3 stars)

Director – Louis Leterrier

Starring – Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Hans Matheson, with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes

MPAA - Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.

Sam Worthington takes another dive into the mindless action film genre with the remake “Clash of the Titans”. I was very young when I saw the original film so I am not judging this new film on its faithfulness to the original but instead as a new film.



Upon finishing “Clash of the Titans” my first thought was how the title relates to the films. If I remember correctly the titans were created to kill the gods or something like that, and there are no titans clashing in this film (yes you could argue contrary but lets face it the movie is full of far many more holes than this). Instead it is the demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) fighting Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and his kraken. Zeus (Liam Neeson) is a minor role as the creator of mankind, and the jealous Hades is working to undermine his brother’s love for man. Somewhere in the mess of a plot there is a lot of fighting and death and one or two quick kisses.



I enjoyed watching the amazing CGI graphics in Clash. It was awesome to see the giant mythological creatures. The producers here spared no expense in making the computer graphics as realistic as possible. If the makers of “Prince of Persia” had bothered to put this kind of CGI detail into their film, then I might have actually enjoyed it. The incredible special effects is really the only thing “Clash of the Titans had going for it. These effects blended right into the film so there was no clear line where the effects began or ended. There were a few scenes on the ocean that were pretty obviously studio filmed with green screen backgrounds, but they were brief scenes that are easily overlooked.



But a movie cannot stand on graphics alone. I know some people think so, and that is why pointless films like this get hyped up and pumped into the market all year. Clash is only half a movie. The other remaining pieces like plot, character development, and dialogue were left out. I mean there is the bare bones structure of a plot to be sure, and there is talking of course, and there are people in the plot doing the talking…but that is about it.



Usually in mindless action films the film makers try to make the movie humorous in order to create a quick emotional connection between the characters and the audience. With “Clash” though the actors are all pretending that they are a part of a serious epic like “Troy” or “Gladiator” when instead “Clash of the Titans” is a film more akin to “Transformers” or “GI Joe”. There were all the elements of a Transformers style summer action film, but the actors were taking everything so serious it was difficult for me to settle into the film and enjoy some good CGI violence. It was like the producers wanted a Neil Simon comedy and the actors wanted a Shakespearian tragedy. Lighten up guys no one is getting an Oscar for this film.

In short “Clash of the Titans” is a completely plotless action film made for 14-year-old boys. I loved the visual effects but was frustrated by the constant plot holes and failed attempts at both drama and comedy. If the producers had wanted an epic then they should have put a few more years into script development instead of shooting this film down the Hollywood assembly line. This is a mindless film that is barely saved from complete ruin by some pretty awesome special effects. I enjoyed watching the film with a big group of friends. We were able to make fun of the parts that sucked while gleaning a little fun from the action scenes. This is a 6.3 out of 10. I’ll tell you a secret though, I would definitely see Clash again before re-watching “Eclipse”.

Sex/Nudity - 5 out of 1 0 – A Greek god sleeps with a mortal woman, we see her bare shoulders and him naked from the back for a second. We hear a story about a woman being raped by a god. We see some bare-chested men.

Violence/Gore – 6 out of 10 – There is a lot of CGI action and violence. When any man dies there is little blood and the scene usually cuts away from any potential gore. The only really gory part is when a man stabs a giant scorpion monster and a lot of green blood bushes out. It is an intense movie with a lot of sword play and large monsters killing people.

Profanity – 2 out of 10 – Some mild obscenities and a few religious exclamations and name calling.