Movie review: Clash of the Titans

One should always be wary of remakes. So many classics have been ruined for a new generation by pointless reimaginings. The original Clash of the Titans was, maybe not a great movie, but still very good by 1981 standards – and it is certainly a classic. So, naturally, I was very sceptical when the remake was announced. At the same time, though, I could see the point in updating a movie like this, what with the possibilities of CGI.

Let it be said right away: The remake wasn’t a great movie, but it wasn’t as bad as some have made it out to be.

The story of demi-god Perseus and his quest isn’t exactly treated faithfully – but then, that wasn’t the case in the original either. In 1981, Perseus’ quest was brought on by the lesser sea goddess Thetis. In 2010, the main antagonist is none other than Hades himself. Perseus’ has a new love interest this time around. His winged mount Pegasus has been made into the token black guy (well, see for yourself). The main difference, though, is in the role of the gods. In 1981, Zeus was just a dirty old man, literally playing a game with human pawns, for his own enjoyment more than anything. In 2010, the story is much darker: the humans have come to think too highly of themselves, angering the gods, and there is real enmity brewing between the gods as well.

Perseus still fights Medusa, though, and the final showdown is still against the kraken – which makes no sense at all, since the kraken belongs in Norwegian folklore and certainly not in Greek mythology, which has its own gargantuan sea monsters. Kind of ironic that the main element from the original that was kept in the remake is really anything but authentic.

As for the acting: Sam Worthington certainly seems to be the new hot action hero (Terminator Salvation, Avatar, an upcoming Dracula project) and his Perseus is exactly what you would expect. Liam Neeson is suitably imperious as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes makes a creepy Vold–I mean, Hades – although I did prefer Steve Coogan’s version in Percy Jackson (see my earlier review in this blog). As a Dane, I guess I have to mention Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Draco (a new addition compared to the original) and does what he does best: the drak, brooding anti-hero. My favourite, though, was Liam Cunningham as Solon, the pithy and grizzled veteran of Perseus’ band. His role is partly comic relief, but he fulfils it with a refreshingly deadpan delivery.

The computer-generated special effects are as impressive as one has come to expect these days. Let’s be honest: Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion monsters in the original do look extremely dated in the eyes of today’s CGI-spoiled audience. Don’t get me wrong: I still watch “his” movies (the Sinbad movies, Jason and the Argonauts) with much enjoyment and even more nostalgia, but Harryhausen used the means at his disposal to the absolut best of his abilities, and I’d like to think that if he were still making movies today, he would have embraced the newest technologies – and excelled at them! If Harryhausen has seen the new movie, I hope he likes what they have done with it – and I was glad to see how they put in a nice little nod to him and to the original. Watch out for Bubo the owl…

Clash of the Titans (2010) Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelsen, Liam Cunningham. Written by Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi. Directed by Louis Leterrier. Rated PG-13. 1 h 46 min.

Movie review: Avatar

Say what you will about James Cameron, but he does know how to make box office hits. He may only have made seven movies in 25 years: The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic – and now Avatar. Most of them have set new standards for how much money to spend on a movie and how much money can be made on a movie. More importantly, they have all set new standards for what you can do in a movie. With Avatar, he’s done it again.

The film follows young marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who accepts an assignment to go to the distant forest moon of Pandora, populated by a humanoid race called the Na’vi. The environment on Pandora is hostile to humans, but by using remotely controlled surrogate bodies, socalled ‘avatars’, they can explore the moon from the safety of their base. Sully becomes involved with one particular tribe of Na’vi and soon discovers that things are not quite as his superiors would have him believe.

The story has been described as ‘Dances With Wolves in space’ (or, perhaps more aptly, ‘Pocahontas in Space‘?). This strikes me as very accurate – although Cameron is of course ten times the director that Kevin Costner is. Probably ten times the actor as well, even though his merits in that respect consist of a small cameo in Titanic. Avatar took 12 years to make. It does strike me as a bit strange that Cameron seems to have spent 11½ years on special effects and a couple of weeks on the script. The story is incredibly predictable; about 20 minutes into the movie you know how it will end. The environmental agenda is admirable but painfully obvious. Most of the characters except for the main protagonist are cardboard.

Worthington does a good job; with Terminator Salvation, Avatar, and the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans, he seems to be really making his mark as the new leading man of speculative fiction cinema, just as Cameron is the leading director of that genre. As for the other actors, Giovanni Ribisi (yes, Frank Buffay, Jr. from Friends) and Stephen Lang make for some convincingly unsympathetic villains. Also respect to the Na’vi actors. It can’t be easy doing an entire movie in front of a green screen and truly get a feel for your character.

Still: don’t watch Avatar for the story. Watch it for the gorgeous imagery. Visually the movie is absolutely stunning – and I only watched it in 2D. I can’t say how impressive (not to mention vomit inducing) it would have been in three dimensions, but it was plenty impressive in two. For 2½ hours I really felt like I was on Pandora, walking through the jungle and flying through the air with the natives. So if possible, check your brain at the door, and forget about the preditable story. Avatar is a true feast for the eyes – just enjoy it for what it is…

Avatar (2009) Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang. Written by James Cameron. Directed by James Cameron. Rated PG-13. 2 h 42 min.