Article by: Tom Logan
Clash of the Titans (2010, Warner Bros. Pictures), out now, is a remake to the 1981 film by Ray Harryhausen. The film is directed by Louis Leterrier, who’s directed films such as the Transporter trilogy, as well as The Incredible Hulk (2008, Universal Pictures). The film is available in both 3-D and 2-D.
The film is everything it the hype says it. It’s a summer blockbuster with lots of intense action and special effects. The story follows, for the most part, the plot of the original film, with the plot centering on the myth of Peruses the ancient Greek demigod. Peruses is faced with the task of finding a way to defeat a large monster known as the Kraken in order to prevent it from destroying the city and the princess Andromeda, who is to be sacrificed to appease the Kraken.
Clash of the Titans seems to surpass its predecessor in very much every way. The plot of the new film had a much better tone. While the original movie had a plot that was for the most part cheese-y, campy, and relied heavily on the concept of deus ex machine, the re-make managed to have a plot that was light-hearted, but not to the point where it felt like a Saturday morning cartoon show. The special effects in the original were all done using stop-motion animation that, while innovative at the time, ended up looking rather cheap. Meanwhile, the CGI in the re-make was nothing short of brilliant. The action scenes in the new movie were large and epic, although the 3D effects were lackluster and for the most part irrelevant.
Perhaps the greatest way Clash of the Titans surpasses the original is the aspect of character development. In the original, none of the characters had any real personality or development whatsoever. Peruses had the personality of Adam West’s Batman. Meanwhile, the entire supporting cast in that movie was practically useless. In the re-make, Peruses is shown as a man who is angry at the gods for sinking his family’s ship. When given gifts from his father Zeus, he promptly rejects them because he wants to complete his quest as a mortal. The supporting cast had personality and actually contributed to the plot. There is a slight romantic story in this film, but unlike in the original, it’s somewhat developed during the course of the story instead of “I saw you, thought you were beautiful, and I know that I love you now and forever.”
As far as summer blockbusters go, Clash of the Titans is definitely worth seeing in theaters. It has plenty of action, a decent plot, and fans of the original will most likely enjoy the film’s little tribute to the original in the form of a certain automaton that makes a brief cameo. While this film is best experienced in 3-D, the experience is just as good in regular format. Other than that, this is one film that shows how sometimes a re-make can be better than the original.
