Clash of the Titans

The 1981 Clash of the Titans was dated the day it opened. Released within a week of Raiders of the Lost Ark (a film which if anything looks even better today), it was the last hurrah for stop motion guru Ray Harryhausen, and the special effects looked as though they belonged in a film from twenty years earlier. That said, despite dated visual effects, a silly robotic owl designed as an R2-D2 cash-in and some soppy moments, the original Clash of the Titans is a very enjoyable piece of work. Unfortunately, the 2010 remake is only an improvement as far as special effects are concerned, and even they are curiously misjudged at times.

The plot is even more misjudged. In the original Perseus’ quest to save Princess Andromeda from the wrath of the Gods was motivated purely out of love. Here the motive is changed to revenge and love doesn’t even enter the equation. Gone are romantic elements such as the riddle solving, not to mention other heroic elements I particularly enjoyed in the original, such as the training of Pegasus. Of course, the original was hardly true to the myth (the Kraken is actually a monster from Norse mythology, not Greek – in the Greek legend the sea monster is called Cetos), but it got by on heart and straight faced heroism.

Despite this, the lack of romance in this Clash will hardly put off child audiences. My own five year old lapped up the giant scorpions, Stygian witches, winged horses, harpies, the Medusa and of course the Kraken – but he still maintained afterwards that the original was better. Despite all the visual effect bells and whistles in this new version, it doesn’t quite stick.

Two examples – in the original when giant head falls from the statue of Thetis and starts speaking, it’s a properly frightening moment. The equivalent scene here when Hades appears in Argos is louder and flashier but crucially less dramatic. Even less impressive is the Medusa sequence. Director Louis Leterrier was clearly trying to make things bigger and scarier, but for all its rough edges the stop motion Medusa in the original film was far more effective.

There are other additions that seem odd to say the least, such as the scorpion riding Djinn. The Gods look even more camp and ridiculous than usual, especially the ones with silly beards. Another factor considerably less successful is the deformed Calibos. He was an essential element in the original film given that he was Andromeda’s former suitor and the son of Thetis, but here his background isn’t as interesting. Besides, he is far less scary and resembles a Klingon.

In the lead role, Sam Worthington’s take on Perseus is completely workmanlike and frankly I have yet to understand his appeal, despite a decent-ish performance in the otherwise lamentable Terminator Salvation. As Andromeda Alexa Davalos is utterly one-note and the most interesting female role is given to Gemma Atherton as Perseus’ immortal guide Io. Despite the presence of high calibre supporting actors such as Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades), Pete Postlethewaite (Spyros), and the baddie from Casino Royale (Mads Mikkelsen playing Draco), they are let down by an irritatingly po-faced script. The script in the original was hardly Shakespeare, but somehow it had more resonance. The original also had a wonderful music score by Leonard Rosenthal. Here we have to make do with Hans Zimmer-esque chugging by Ramin Djawadi.

On a spiritual note, it is also interesting that the Gods interference in human lives is shown in an even more negative light than usual. As I explain to my five year old, the Gods of Olympus are essentially fallen angels, and here more than ever they are emphatically selfish, corrupt and evil. The tagline for this film in the trailer is “Damn the Gods”. In the case of the Gods of Olympus – and in light of Genesis 6 which reveals the origins of much of Greek mythology – one can certainly cheer Perseus in his quest to do so, instead of misguidedly reading the film as some kind of endorsement of atheism.

To be fair, Clash of the Titans is fast paced and will hold the attention of its young target audience. It’s certainly not as terrible as some reviews have made out either, but all things considered, it is a disappointment, even if it is much better than the recent Percy Jackson film.

Simon Dillon, April 2010.