Clash of the Titans (2010)

There is a part of the human psychological construction that makes the need for myths universal. Every culture or society composed of our species has developed fairly elaborate mythologies typically with purpose of explaining aspects of the natural world beyond the scope of their current level of technology. Even when science is able to explain the universe around us myths persist frequently in order to provide culturally based morality lessons. Many myths, especially those of Greco-Roman origins have made it into movies as the basis for sword and sandal styled adventure flicks. One of the best none of this genre was released towards the tail end of the popularity of fantasy action movies reaching its height in the seventies; the 1981 release of ‘Clash of the Titans’. Much of the charm of this telling of the myth of the Greek Demigod Perseus was due in large part to the imaginative special effects by one of the masters of that craft, Ray Harryhausen. Recently the studio extended their somewhat regrettable trend of remaking or in modern parlance re-imagining the story. The 2010 variation of this tale may exhibit special effects wonderment obtainable only with the nearly miraculous achievements of computer generated images but it lacks the warm, humanizing touch that can only be obtained through practical effects. n\the concept that newer does not equate with better may be an affectation of my generation and an affront to the younger members of the audience born after the computer boom but no computer program currently devised can imbibe a special effects shot with the emotional appeal that was the trademark of Ray Harryhausen. With that noted the current incarnation of this myth can provide a reasonably good time as a Saturday evening beer and pizza flick but unfortunately little more. The action is greatly ramped up and admittedly the special effects are up to contemporary standards but it comes across more like a video game gone out of control than a worthy successor to a venerable fantasy movie.

Right up front it should be noted that this version had a budget of $125 million, a huge bump from the $15 million for the previous version even accounting for thirty years of inflation. The screenplay duties were given to a trio of writers; Travis Beacham, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Beacham is relatively new with ‘Dog Days of Summer’ as his main prior accomplishment. Hay and Manfredi have a bit more of a resume including ‘Æon Flux’, ‘The Tuxedo’ and ‘Crazy/Beautiful’. None of these works seem to have prepared them to take on an action oriented fantasy that is extremely heavy ob the required exposition. Some attempt to provide this demonstrates more of the rational for the title with a battle between the leading triad of Olympian gods, Zeus (Liam Neeson), Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston) and the rival deities the Titans. The final confrontation was taken by the Olympians thanks to a monster controlled by the Poseidon, the dreaded Kraken. With the Titans defeated the Zeus creates humanity and rules over them while Poseidon is given rule of the world’s oceans. Deceived by his brother Hades is relegated to ruling the underworld but plots to gain more power. It is not that this is an overwhelming amount of back story it is just too heavy on exposition than the usual popcorn flick. The human side of the story gets started pretty much along traditional lines with the infant Perseus found next to his dead mother floating at sea in a coffin. The baby, quickly grows up to a robust manhood (Sam Worthington), is now ready for his journey. This actor is rapidly becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought after action stars after leading appearances in the mega hit ‘Avatar’ and ‘Terminator Salvation’. When the royalty of Argos, King Cepheus (Vincent Regan) and Queen Cassiopeia (Polly Walker) denounce the gods the gods retaliate destroying the royal couple and demanding their daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) is sacrificed to the Kraken. This sets Perseus on a heroic journey straight out of the lesson plan of Joseph Campbell. This heroes’ journey becomes the only motivation for the parade of creatures, monsters and other unearthly terrors.

One of the better effects presented here is the way they handled the infamous Medusa whose head full of snakes instantly turns anyone who looks into stone. The stop action version created by Harryhusen is still my favorite but with the aid of computer animation each of the writhing snakes takes on a unique personality of its own. The downside is the technology cannot overcome the film’s deficiencies. The cast is excellent but not given all that much to work with. It’s a good thing that most of the cast is already well established including Worthington who has shown he can act, always a good thing with an action star. The performances here are so overly melodramatic that you might find yourself laughing in the wrong places. If all you want is to be amazed by computer animation then this might do, just don’t expect much in the way of the main function of mythology; storytelling.

Posted 06/20/2010