Perseus(Sam Worthington) never knew his parents. His mother had been drowned by being locked in a coffin and his father, little does he know, just so happens to be the Greek god of lightning, Zeus(Liam Neeson). A fisherman found Perseus and raised him until he was an adult. When the family finds their way to Argos, where a group of soldiers destroys a statue of Zeus, Hades(Ralph Fiennes) rises from the seas and kills everyone around him (save Perseus and a few soldiers) including Perseus' parents. In Argos, the people are celebrating the return of the surviving soldiers of Hades' attack and are comparing themselves and the princess Andromeda to the gods. Of course this doesn't settle well with Zeus therefore the god of lightning allows Hades to attack Argos. During this attack, Hades kills the remaining soldiers with whom Perseus is standing. When Hades' attack has no effect on Perseus, he becomes aware that Perseus is a demi-god and tells him that he is the son of Zeus. After that Hades threatens Argos with destruction by the hands of the Kraken, a monstrous beast that had overthrown the Titans enabling the gods to rule in the first place. The only way to prevent this is to sacrifice Andromeda. Perseus then volunteers to lead a band of warriors to find a way to kill the Kraken and ultimately get his revenge and kill Hades.
Sam Worthington has gone from part machine, to part alien, to part god in his acting career and has proved himself to be a good actor. Alongside Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, "Titans" boasts an "A" list cast, but does the film make good use of the actors? Well, yes and no. While I enjoyed the fact that it was Liam Neeson portraying the king of the gods, it is hard to take him seriously when his armor is shining like the sun and his beard goes down to his stomach. All of the gods except Hades also have shining clothes that could have been toned down. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed Ralph Fiennes's performance as the evil god of the Underworld. The same menace seen in his other character, Lord Voldemort from the "Harry Potter" series, is poured into this character as well. Hades is definitely my favorite character in the movie.
For those who have seen the old "Clash of the Titans," they will realize that the biggest difference between the two films is the CGI. The first film used stop-motion effects to create effects such as Medusas' snake hair and the giant Kraken. In the new version, of course, CGI is used to create the giant scorpions, the flying horses, Medusa, and the Kraken that is so big it could probably make the Empire State Building collapse with its steps.
The only downside to the film is that it is cheesy/hokey at times. It is mostly the script but other hokey factors include unneeded characters that are meant to be comic relief, or events that play out and in the end are not necessary. There are also several characters that the film should not have included. For example, a desert tribe of monsters that aid Perseus in his quest are of no importance. If they were kept out, the film would be just the same. These two downsides to the film barely ruined my enjoyment of the film because I was expecting these problems to be there in the first place.
How would I describe "Clash of the Titans" in a nutshell? A slightly hokey, entertaining action film with very impressive visual effects. For myself, a fan of Greek mythology, this film was very enjoyable in almost every way. Oh and as a last remark, do not spend the extra money on the 3D showing. I give it two and a half stars out of four.
"Clash of the Titans" has a running time of one hour and fifty-eight minutes and is rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.
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