EDIT: Several years later and I'm adding the post below because the Rambler blog might be removed.
TItans Clash, but is it a Smash?
Short answer: No.
Slightly longer answer: Clash of the Titans* is a decent entertainment package that is entertaining to watch but doesn't push any boundaries like the original film did. Nevertheless it is worth the time to watch and I honestly have more good than bad to say. But a smash hit it is not.
Really long answer: If you haven't seen the original 1981 flick I highly recommend you do so. The special effects were astonishingly good for their time and the movie is entertaining. Not to mention you get to see a lot of Bubo, Athena's mechanical owl which follows Perseus around on his quest. In fact, all the monsters in the original were made the old fashioned way, no CGI rendering. All the monsters are excellently made by Ray Harryhausen This gives the film a classic feel. Anyway, go watch it. It's an "Epic Entertainment Spectacular!"
I did not see the new movie in 3D because Augusta has nothing fancy despite being the capital of Maine. Going into the film I was expecting a large crowd seeing as it was opening day. There were only a few dozen in the showing I went to, displaying once again what tough economic times we are in. Since this movie really kicks off the summer blockbuster season I wasn't expecting a deep storyline or phenomenal dialogue. I was expecting giant scorpions snipping people in two, Medusa making lifelike statues, and a giant turtle.....I mean Kraken. Seriously though, it looks like a cross between your typical squid-like Kraken, a turtle, and the Rancor from Star Wars. The old one looked laughably like a swamp monster. The movie delivered on the action front but skimped on story. Character development was okay but nothing special.
There were two guys in the film who apparently were supposed to be the comic relief. They were hunters, claiming to be capable of killing anything...unless it's in the underworld. Their characters were underdeveloped and weak, lacking any real value in either comic relief or story and only moderate value in action.
The biggest problem I had with the film was they needed MORE BUBO! I mean COME ON! Bubo was thecoolest part of the original film. A fully animated mechanical owl with a heroic side. He only appears onceas a brief homage to the original film and he isn't even animated.
Even if Bubo didn't get the screentime he deserved, the film did do some really cool updates to the old movie. Mount Olympus was very impressive, though a nice full CGI shot would've been cool. The underworld and the medusa scene were well done and added the urgency that the original film lacks. Overall the film was very entertaining with an appropriately epic soundtrack.
Rating? 87%**. The movie did what it set out to do, did it well, and didn't leave me with a feeling of dissapointment. That's all I ask.
*Side rant: Why do they always make movie-sites so large it takes three hours to load them? Darn it all. However, you can do one of those neato 3D card things with the kraken here.
**I'm switching to a percentage rating system because it allows me to be more precise. Otherwise I'll feel like I'm giving too many films the same rating that are really on different levels.
No comments:
Post a Comment