The original Clash of the Titans came out in 1981 and was directed by Desmond Davis. Here we are on April 2, 2010 and it is coming back, in 3-D nonetheless, and is this time directed by Louis Leterrier. You should definitely go see this if only because Louis Leterrier was also the director of the popular movies The Incredible Hulk, Transporter 2, and Danny the Dog. Leterrier is not new to movies but he has only truly been directing since 2005 with Danny the Dog being his debut.
Now one thing that is getting me very excited about this movie is that Liam Neeson is playing Zeus. I have to say that was an excellent casting call. Liam, no matter what movie he is in, demands a presence on the screen so what better role to put him in than the king of the gods. Now Sam Worthington is playing Perseus the bastard son of Zeus. Sam would not have been my first pick for this role, that would have been Gerard Butler, but he is no stranger to action films and his physique and style work quite well for this type of movie. Of course, I could not go without mentioning the incredible Ralph Fiennes taking another star role in Clash of the Titans playing the role of Hades. Ralph plays an excellent nemesis so it must have been a breeze casting him as Hell’s esteemed leader and the antagonist to Perseus.
Unfortunately, Clash of the Titans was not filmed in 3-D so I would not waste the time and/or money to see it in any other fashion other than standard. Post production conversion to 3-D is kludgey and lack luster and I hope Hollywood stops pinching pennies and starts filming these movies in 3-D from the get go. They can convert from 3-D to standard to satisfy the viewers who aren’t adopting the new trend and not disappoint those, such as myself, who really enjoy the 3-D evolution of these movies. Alice in Wonderland was also post production and it was such a far cry from what it could have been. Now James Cameron set the bar very high with Avatar, but I believe Hollywood and other directors can rise to the challenge.
This newer vision of Clash of the Titans diverts quite a bit from that of the original 1981 version. This time they focus primarily on the attempt by Hades to overthrow Zeus and the epic battles that Perseus must endure to protect the people of Argos and defeat Hades’ mythical monster the Kraken. I am sure this diversion of plot was chosen so that there would be numerous opportunities for epic battle scenes and memorable special effects. They are playing to Letterier strength, action sequences, but I have to admit that he has been weak on story line. I am hoping that he walks a decent line behind story and action because while I do enjoy great action movies I do like my brain to have a little fun too and for that it needs a good story line. Here is a trailer, they sure do know how to make it look good..
