Clash of the Titans (2010)

Release the Kraken!

Before this weekend, I had heard a lot of bad things about Clash of the Titans. While I'm not in a position to say if those opinions are true, I am in a position to say that Clash of the Titans is a blast. Nothing about the movie is going to truly impress you, but the action is solid, the effects are pretty good and the cheesiness factor is through the roof.

Clash of the Titans is a surprisingly faithful remake of the 1981 film by the same name. Perseus, one of Zeus' many bastard sons played by Sam Worthington, is charged with saving the city of Argos from total destruction by the Kraken. There's lots of emotional stuff in between, but what's really important is that Perseus fights giant scorpions, Medusa and rides a Pegasus. He is accompanied by a group of rag-tag adventurers that includes all of the genre's most popular archetypes; including the gruff, aging solider, the bright eyed youth, the goofy comic relief duo and the token black guy. All this occurs at the same time as Hades, perpetual villain Ralph Finnes, attempts to overthrow Zeus, Liam Neeson, for control of Olympus. Directed by relative newcomer, Louis Leterrier, the movie packs a surprisingly capable cast and it sticks close enough to the source material to invoke feelings of nostalgia from fans of the original movie.

While it certainly has things going for it, Clash of the Titans is still, simply, B-movie fare. That is not a problem for me though. The movie isn't going to wow you with it's acting, or make you sit and think about your life, but it will make you laugh and smile at the pure outlandishness of it. It should go without saying that the effects and action here are on par with just about every other big action blockbuster out there, but where it really shines is actually length and pacing. I can't describe how excited I was to walk out of the theater and notice that the movie was under two hours in length. Sure, there are some down moments full of pointless character development, but they aren't distracting or too long.  As far as big-screen, popcorn movies go, Clash of the Titans is really fantastic.

The last time I came out of a movie smiling and giggling like this was 2012. Both Clash of the Titans and 2012 are movies that, while certainly bad, will make you smile. The 3-D here is kind of sub-par, it is still effective at times, but the movie was clearly not shot in 3-D and it suffers because of it. If you like mindless action with a twist of mythology, or if you are a fan of the original film, I suggest you go see Clash of the Titans. It's a totally enjoyable way to spend two hours.

5/10