MOVIE OF THE WEEK (4/2/10): CLASH OF THE TITANS
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng, Alexa Davalos, Izabella Miko and Mads Mikkelsen
WRITER: Travis Beachem, Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay
DIRECTOR: Louis Leterrier
WEB SITE: clash-of-the-titans.warnerbros.com
THE PLOT: Based somewhat in classic Greek mythology, the 2010 version of Clash of the Titans stars Sam Worthington as Perseus, a man unlike any other. For he is also part god, the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), the exalted ruler of the gods on Mt. Olympus. It seems man - which Zeus created - has gotten a little tired of praising the gods, which is causing quite a discontent on Mt. Olympus as one might imagine it would since man's prayers are supposed to keep them immortal.
And Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Zeus brother who has been banished to rule the underworld, is ready to make man pay for his sins - but his true motivations for doing so may be less noble than they seem ...
So how does this involve Perseus, you ask? Well, since he is willing to take on the gods - not to mention a collection of monsters and beasts including the infamous Kraken - Perseus may be mankind's only hope of escaping its fate.
THE TAKE: Ever watch a movie and while you can't find anything necessarily wrong with it, you can't anything really right about it, either? If not, a quick gaze at the lackluster Clash will fill that slot for you easily with its unexciting pacing, nondescript acting and propensity for laying out everything that's going to happen in the film before it does so any sense of drama or intrigue is removed. I mean, it's one thing for a movie to follow a predictable storyline; it's another thing for it to be boring while doing so - and Clash, save for three or four scenes, is pretty dull.
Of course, it wouldn't be so bland perhaps if a more compelling actor were in the lead role. No offense to Sam Worthington, but he's a poor man's Christian Bale at best and the new Jason Patric at his worst (or perhaps Jason Statham with less emotion and range). He's got a constant going through the motions syndrome, almost as an actor imitating what an actor should be doing in this situation. Can he pass for the part? Yes. Does he add anything definitive to the role? Nope! Neeson is shallow as a puddle and Fiennes is as heavy-handed a villian (who by the way looks like a loss member of the Zod clan from Superman II or Hans Gruber's cousin from Die Hard) as they come. He's not Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever bad, but he's not going to win any awards for this at all.
As for the rest of the film, the 3D - which feels rushed throughout the film - really doesn't do much to add to the experience, nor do the majority of action sequences. (Let's just say the Mummy series had better desert/monster battles and leave it at that.) The dialogue is pretty thin, almost high school drama-ish and none of director Louis Leterrier camera tricks are going to make you think otherwise, which is a shame since he did such an admirable job with The Incredible Hulk.
A clash between the Tennessee Titans and any of the National Football League's other 31 teams would provide more drama, intensity and compelling performances than this haphazard film that fails to excite in any dimension, let alone 3D. While not quite Speed Racer, it looks like Warner Bros. may once again have another a big budget spring disaster film on its hands that wasn't intended as one.
In short, Clash is one of those movies you'll catch on a Saturday afternoon on HBO and think to yourself "Oh yeah, I remember this movie" ... The problem is, you won't remember the movie once you start watching it.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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