By Juan Aguilar / Asst. Inscape Editor
By Juan Aguilar / Asst. Inscape Editor
Do yourself a favor and watch “Clash of the Titans” in 2-D.
Not only will you save a dollar or two, you will also save yourself a disappointment in the revolution known as 3-D.
Originally set to debut in standard 2-D, “Clash of the Titans” was converted to 3-D at the last minute during post-production.
The film, which is a remake of the 1981 classic, follows Perseus (Sam Worthington), the mortal son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), as he seeks redemption for the death of his adopted family after a provoked Hades (Ralph Fiennes) capsizes their boat.
Hades, displeased with the mortals who declared war on the Gods, makes another appearance in the kingdom of Argos. He warns the people that the vicious Kraken will be released in ten days and Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) must be sacrificed or the kingdom will be left in ruins.
And the epic journey of Perseus and his followers begins.
They seek the Stygian Witches who know of the only method to defeat the Kraken. But like any movie featuring a perilous journey, it will not be easy, or at least that is what viewers expect.
Unfortunately, “Clash of the Titans” failed to create battles of epic proportion by featuring mediocre fight scenes that left the audience rather perplexed and disappointed.
On the desert sands, giant scorpions suddenly arise, much like the scorpion decepticon from “Transformers.” Sadly, this scene was dismal in comparison, especially in 3-D.
When it comes to the moment before death, miracles can happen, such as a grim clan of creatures known as the Djinn who have the power to control the savage scorpions.
The three blind Stygian Witches and their only eye know of a way to defeat the Kraken. Perseus, with their only eye, demands to know the death trap or the witches will literally lose sight of things.
As fate would have it, no man can decapitate the gorgon, Medusa, and live to tell the tale. But Perseus can because he is a son of a God, a demigod.
As fate would not have it, Perseus was the last man standing, with the head of the beautiful monster known as Medusa. Her gaze will turn any living flesh to stone, even the monstrous Kraken.
Perseus hops on his flying horse named Pegasus, and they are off to save Argos and the Princess.
And on the tenth day the Kraken will arise once more, hungry for destruction and innocent people. But, that was the problem, the Kraken spent too much time arising. And when it did come out, it looked like the monster from “Cloverfield.”
It didn’t even have enough endurance. Sure, the Kraken fought back in an attempt to prove its calamity, but Perseus quickly turned it to stone and it shattered to pieces.
Film director Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”) had a soft spot for the original fans of the 1981 classic, so the new plot did not veer off dramatically from the original, but there were notable differences.
In the original, Andromeda was Perseus’ love interest and in the end would marry each other. In the remake, Perseus had a new love interest named Io (Gemma Arterton), an ageless beauty of a woman who watched over Perseus his entire life.
Hades wasn’t a character in the 1981 film, but obviously played an important role in this remake. He would appear out of thick smoke and embers, casting a dreadful and corny stare upon the mortals.
The new film did introduce a cameo appearance of the mechanical owl Bubo, who played an important role in the original film. But this surprise seemed desperate and pointless and the poor owl only got three more seconds of fame.
What did remain the same was the melodramatic acting and funny fight scenes. Needless to say Perseus was the only male without a ridiculous beard, in fact he looked just like Worthington from “Avatar” and “Terminator: Salvation.”
Of course, the movie came a long way from clay figures and poor camera angles, but it didn’t fully harness the beauty of CGI. Converting the film to 3-D was pointless as viewers could not notice the difference.
It is enough to say that the movie did a tremendous job at sticking to what “Clash of the Titans” is known for.
But for the hype that it received during the past months, “Clash of the Titans” was just another action movie directed by Leterrier.