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Another year, another round of CGI summer blockbusters come to the cinema. Starting this year with a remake of Desmond Davis’s 1981 film of the same name, it was made famous thanks to the then state-of-the-art stop-motion of Ray Harryhausen. Now almost thirty years on, and with the benefit of 3D technology, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier attempts to better it.
When mankind disobeys the gods, Zeus (Liam Neeson) decides to teach them a lesson by allowing his treacherous brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) to unleash the mighty Kraken upon them. So inevitably it falls to demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) to discover a means to defeat the monstrosity and save the city of Argos from total destruction. Yet, it is hardly surprising that despite the numerous possibilities such a story offers for the exploration of complex themes, it quickly becomes simply a series of CGI-filled sequences strung together by a plot.
The film's action sequences, despite including an impressive menagerie of mythical opponents, soon become increasingly repetitive, consisting primarily of various characters lunging towards their monstrous foes with mixed results; something which might not have been so disastrous if the film's special effects managed to impress, instead soon becoming its greatest failure. Although the films giant scorpions may be acceptable, the likes of Medusa prove to be incredibly disappointing, being only slightly more realistic than those of the 1981 original and without the stop-motion charm. At the same time, the effect of the film's 3D proves to be negligible, adding practically nothing to the action, and it soon becomes obvious that it was added at the last minute to simply increase profits. There is one moment when the special effects do impress with the film's finale and the appearance of the Kraken, but this lasts for such a short time you cannot help but feel cheated considering that it is the moment the entire film builds towards.
Of course the film characters inevitably take a secondary role to special effects and action sequences, with the majority being given little characterisation and development - however, the actors do try. Sam Worthington’s Perseus may change little throughout, but it is a credit to the actor that he manages to maintain moderate interest in the character. Ralph Fiennes and Gemma Arterton (who plays Perseus’s love interest) prove adequate in what can only really be described as stock characters. Indeed, the only character to manage to bring anything particularly interesting is Liam Neeson’s Zeus who does his best to raise his character above the script, but even he can provide little headway.
Overall Clash of the Titans can be added to the long list of disappointing remakes, achieving nothing new or particularly exciting, and failing to match the achievements of the 1981 original. That said, at least the Kraken is impressive and the acting good enough to mean that this is bearable rather than terrible, and will certainly not be this year's Revenge of the Fallen.
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