#12: Clash of the Titans
Well.... crap.
Nothing like a remake of Clash of the Titans to make one appreciate the genius of Ray Harryhausen. Or for that matter, competent story construction.
Now here's the strange thing. There were three scenes in the remake that I found to be REALLY well done... three set-piece fights against big CGI monsters. They were very well done, the special effects were great, and a lot of annoying characters got killed of in all three scenes. But the rest of the movie? SHOCKINGLY bland. You'd think that a movie that cast Liam Neeson as Zeus and Raphe Feines as Hades would be doing something right... but no. I'll avoid going into some really head-scratcher moments because they're spoilers... but hoo-boy were there some head-scratchers!
Also annoying: the scenes that seemed, to me, to exist ONLY to be a spectacle in 3D. I've only seen one 3D movie of late: Avatar, and the 3D effects were well done but distracting. Especially given the way my glasses seemed to interact with the 3D glasses. This latest surge in 3D reminds me a little bit of when digital sound first came out with Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park did a GREAT job with it; turns out a movie about dinosaurs really benefits from a new sound system that handles the bass rumble well and needs lots of loud. But for a few years after, there were movies that came out that simply didn't get it; they had what I called DTS abuse. Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Hard Target" came out just after Jurassic Park, and I believe was the 2nd movie to use DTS sound. I still remember how the slamming of a car door in that movie sounded like a grenade going off, or a woman blowing out a candle in slow motion sounded like a hurricane blowing a house across a rush-hour freeway.
ANYway... Clash of the Titans. Very disappointing movie. One of the WORST screenplays I've seen in a looooong time. Three good action/effects scenes, taken out of context from the rest of the movie, would earn it alone an A grade... but alas, those 3 scenes accounted for only about 20% of the movie. The other 80% was boring and frustrating and lame and filled with missed opportunities. Mix those two together, and I'd say...
Clash of the Titans: C
Nothing like a remake of Clash of the Titans to make one appreciate the genius of Ray Harryhausen. Or for that matter, competent story construction.
Now here's the strange thing. There were three scenes in the remake that I found to be REALLY well done... three set-piece fights against big CGI monsters. They were very well done, the special effects were great, and a lot of annoying characters got killed of in all three scenes. But the rest of the movie? SHOCKINGLY bland. You'd think that a movie that cast Liam Neeson as Zeus and Raphe Feines as Hades would be doing something right... but no. I'll avoid going into some really head-scratcher moments because they're spoilers... but hoo-boy were there some head-scratchers!
Also annoying: the scenes that seemed, to me, to exist ONLY to be a spectacle in 3D. I've only seen one 3D movie of late: Avatar, and the 3D effects were well done but distracting. Especially given the way my glasses seemed to interact with the 3D glasses. This latest surge in 3D reminds me a little bit of when digital sound first came out with Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park did a GREAT job with it; turns out a movie about dinosaurs really benefits from a new sound system that handles the bass rumble well and needs lots of loud. But for a few years after, there were movies that came out that simply didn't get it; they had what I called DTS abuse. Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Hard Target" came out just after Jurassic Park, and I believe was the 2nd movie to use DTS sound. I still remember how the slamming of a car door in that movie sounded like a grenade going off, or a woman blowing out a candle in slow motion sounded like a hurricane blowing a house across a rush-hour freeway.
ANYway... Clash of the Titans. Very disappointing movie. One of the WORST screenplays I've seen in a looooong time. Three good action/effects scenes, taken out of context from the rest of the movie, would earn it alone an A grade... but alas, those 3 scenes accounted for only about 20% of the movie. The other 80% was boring and frustrating and lame and filled with missed opportunities. Mix those two together, and I'd say...
Clash of the Titans: C