BLAIR WOYNARSKI
Arts Writer

When I first saw the trailer for Clash of the Titans, it struck me as an epic and engaging action movie, probably better than those blockbusters of last summer that largely disappointed. As a fan of Greek mythology, it also intrigued me.

I haven’t seen the 1981 movie on which this film was based, so I will not be able to contrast the two, but judged on its own merits, this movie fails to deliver. The story loosely (I reiterate, loosely) follows the myth of Perseus, who slew Medusa, tamed Pegasus and rescued Andromeda from a sea-monster.

The movie opens with an infant Perseus, the half-god son of Zeus, floating in a chest in the ocean after the king whose wife was divinely impregnated left him to die. He is discovered by a fisherman (played by the talented Pete Postlethwaite) who lives just long enough to deliver a dramatic speech that sets up the theme for the rest of the movie.

A grown Perseus (Sam Worthington), having seen his family die, is taken to the city of Argos, which has declared “war on the gods.” Having done so, Argos is threatened by the terrifying Kraken, which Hades promises will destroy them unless they sacrifice their princess Andromeda.

Perseus embarks with several warriors on a quest to find the secret to destroying the Kraken, which leads him to kill Medusa, steal her head and eventually fly back to Argos and save Andromeda. Also, there are giant scorpions.

Greek myths are a tricky business. They are a lot like comics in that they can rarely be portrayed with complete accuracy in a way that is both coherent and cinematically interesting. I don’t fault the movie for creating a more epic background for Perseus’s quest, as opposed to the original where it was all just so he could bang a chick, but it makes errors that should not be made.

The opening narration establishes Zeus as the creator of mankind (it was actually a lesser Titan named Epithymus) and Hades as a Luciferian figure who was cast into the underworld and is eager to seize power (really he was more like the emo kid who sulked in the basement while everyone partied upstairs). It creates a notably Christian good/evil dichotomy that is simply not consistent with the source material.

Sam Worthington is a rising star in the action genre, but as an actor he hasn’t had much opportunity to shine. This role ranks well below Jake Sully (Avatar) and Marcus Wright (Terminator Salvation) in depth; Perseus is flat and uninteresting, spending most of the film as a broken record repeating how he wants to strike at the gods and that he’ll “do it as a man.” Liam Neeson is a powerful Zeus, but he’s upstaged by his shiny armour which will make you think there’s something wrong with the picture. Ralph Fiennes could have been a good Hades, but he ended up spending most of the role locked in a half-hearted Voldemort impression.

I went to see this in 3D, mainly because I misplaced the pair of 3D glasses I got at Avatar. And that is the only reason a person would have for spending the extra $3. The 3D effect was, itself, somewhere between poorly used and nonexistent. Had it been shot for 3D, I have no doubt it would have been spectacular, but it was shot in 2D then hastily converted. This resulted in minimal depth, but anything that should be interesting is still noticeably flat.

The action scenes are, for the most part, well done. The Medusa fight in particular uses a good mixture of suspense and CGI. The great Kraken is impressive, but by the time it shows up, the audience is a little played out and the fight scene isn’t particularly engaging (this is also the part where it becomes apparent just how terrible the 3D is). The action scenes prevent this movie from being a complete waste, but that’s about it.

Perhaps most striking thing about Clash of the Titans is that, despite its epic subject matter, there is very little sense of adventure. The soldiers simply plod from one fight to the next. The pacing in the first half is also quite rushed. In fewer than five minutes, we went from little baby Perseus to a war against the gods.

Don’t feel bad if you miss this film. You may still have fun if you’re able to ignore the things mentioned above, but if you do go to see it, definitely don’t waste your money on a pair of polarized glasses.