The 1981 "Clash of the Titans" is one of those beloved fantasy adventure films that I vaguely remember watching as a child, but don't have much of an attachment to. Though I remember specific scenes from it, I could never be quite sure I'd properly seen the whole thing. So, I thought it was time to finally fill in a blank spot. The film was a hit when it was released, and considered something of a nostalgic throwback. All of its mythological monsters and creatures were brought to life with stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen, best known for his monster films of the '50s and '60s. "Clash of the Titans" was treated as the grand finale of his career, and each of his creations is prominently credited right after the main cast.
And this all seems perfectly sensible to me, because when you get away from Bubo the mechanical owl, the Medusa, the Pegasus, and the Kraken, the film is a very earnest, very basic Greek mythology pastiche. The star studded cast, which includes the likes of Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Maggie Smith as Thetis, Sian Phillips as Cassiopeia, and Burgess Meredith as Ammon, do what they can. However, we spend the bulk of our time with Harry Hamlin's Perseus and Judi Bowker's Andromeda, who are there to look pretty, and not much else. I appreciate that the script, by Beverley Cross, sticks pretty close to the original mythology, and the portrayal of the gods as mercurial assholes. The adventures are rousing and fun, but follow fairy tale logic, with no attempts made to assert any larger themes. Everyone seemed perfectly happy with "Clash of the Titans" being simple, uncomplicated B-movie fun. Alas, I am far too old and grown-up to enjoy the film at face value, though I admire all the artistry that went into it. Maybe if I had watched it more often when I was younger, I'd have some nostalgia for it.
I managed to completely ignore the 2010 remake of "Clash of the Titans," and its sequel "Wrath of the Titans," when they came out. Like the original, they were sold primarily as spectacle, riding the new wave of 3D films in the wake of James Cameron's "Avatar." They also share a leading man, of course, the remarkably uncharismatic Sam Worthington. He plays Perseus like he's played every other role I've seen him take on - utterly generically. I found the rest of the cast more promising. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes play Zeus and Hades, the most prominent god characters, and fine purveyors of hammy lines like "Release the kraken!" Among the humans, Pete Postlethwaite, Mads Mikkelson, Liam Cunningham, and Nicholas Hoult show up as Perseus's allies, though none of them get much of a chance to do anything interesting. The best new character is Io, played by Gemma Arterton, who is set up as a sort of guardian angel figure for Perseus, and mostly replaces the princess, Andromeda, who has a much smaller role.
The point of the movie is the creatures and action scenes, of course, and "Clash of the Titans" is a very good example of all the trends of blockbuster filmmaking of 2010. There's the bleak, gritty creature design that paints the once white pegasus black, and turns the kraken into a grey morass of tentacles with a giant maw. There's the cinematography that does a fairly good job of making the action more expansive and visceral. The battle and flying sequences look great. Alas, there's also the middling CGI that takes a few too many shortcuts. The Medusa sequence is especially disappointing, too murky, too dark, and clearly trying to hide the fact that the CGI Medusa had nothing on the Harryhausen version. I can't speak to the 3D post-conversion that kicked up such a ruckus, but I understand why they did it. This was a movie intended to be seen on the largest screen possible, with a rowdy crowd.
I'm glad that Bubo only shows up as a cameo, because the tone of the reboot is so much more dour and serious. It's still pretty kid-friendly, but this was not a film made for kids or fantasy fans. For that reason, I prefer the original version, even though I know it's not for me. The original had some real magic in it, campy and dated as it is, that proved difficult to replicate.
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