“Wrestled Into Submission”
Variety‘s Brian Lowry is calling the 3D Clash of the Titans “pretty flat,” claiming that the “technical upgrade doesn’t improve the clunky mythological underpinnings. Result feels mostly like a very expensive kids’ pic.
Ray Harryhausen‘s stop-motion work in the original 1981 Clash of the Titans “is surely dated from a technical standpoint compared with the magic CGI can conjure; still, this Titans reboot merely demonstrates that building a more elaborate mousetrap doesn’t necessarily produce a more entertaining one.
Action- and spectacle-wise “everything is literally bigger but not necessarily better [here], including the gigantic Kraken, which now resembles Return of the Jedi‘s Rancor monster but remains every bit as anticlimactic as it was three decades ago.
“The effects are too frequently muddied by the pace at which they flash by, limiting opportunities to appreciate the combined animatronic, computer-generated and motion-capture visuals. The most satisfying creative element, actually, is Ramin Djawadi‘s operatic score.”
Reels back in not surprise.
“Result feels mostly like a very expensive kids’ pic.”
Was it ever supposed to be anything else?
Looks like a rental to me.
Norrington gets a lot of flack because of LXG but regardless I was very disappointed when he was removed from this because at least he had developed and maintained a pretty unique cinematic sensibility. The current director’s Hulk was okay in a familiar and inoffensive sort of way but his employment, along with people like Joe Johnston, merely speaks to the corporate mindedness of the studios. Johnston at least is known to “get it in on time and under budget”; whether it’s boring as hell because he has no feel for the material is assumed as secondary. In an environment which quickly takes advantage of audience willingness to attend 3D pictures to jack up prices that can come as little surprise but the fact that some (not me) continue to attend these snooze-fests and thus perpetuate such thinking depresses me.
Case in point: the AICN minions for the most part appeared to give Johnston’s blisteringly unimaginative Wolfman a shrugging pass rather than tear into it as they should have; assessments along the lines of “It was alright” dominated the day. Perhaps the fact that at least many hated Speed Racer, say, a genuine work of great imagination, speaks to the fact that in the present cultural climate these films have to be polarizing in order to be good at all.
As far as this movie is concerned, the trailers were uninspiring to me (and the 1981 version is still captivating whether it’s “dated” or not) and then the clips they released a week or two back just confirmed how terribly unispired this whole thing was going to be. I’ve said for years that the worst thing a movie can be is both boring and obnoxious (my prime example has always been Island of Dr. Moreau). This one looks to have the first part at least nailed down
Jeffrey is off his game. How has he not yet commented on Worthington’s buzz cut in this? What’s the character using on his head? Norelco Cordless Clippers? This is way more bothersome than seeing the wrong font somewhere in the replication of 1960′s time square.
The original had about 1 interesting character in it: Calibos. The Medusa setpiece was great. Everything else was ho-hum and rather dreary, but, hell, at least it had personality. Personality goes a long way.
One thing that gets me every time I see the trailer: I hate hate HATE Liam Neeson’s outfit. He looks like a War God. Zeus was not the God of War, he was the God of Adultery. He was Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. Olivier didn’t exactly walk around with his cock out, but at least he had a certain lustful gleam in his eye when he spotted anything female. This Zeus looks like he’s screaming and yelling orders while putting his penis in a box of broken glass and screaming NO NO NO! every time he gets an erection. Mythology fail.
People should go see “How to Train Your Dragon” instead.
Agree with moviesquad. They should not take away 3D theaters from How to Train Your Dragon for this.
Just watched the ’81 Clash. The scene in Medusa’s underground lair was dated Harry-clay but it had tension.
Part of that was simply lighting. The ’81 scene was dark with many shadows, making Medusa harder to see, which, of course, makes things that much tougher for Perseus. He has to really peer into the dark to see the monster, but if he looks unwisely, he gets stoned.
This latest Clash Medusa scene looks like it was shot under stadium lights. Nasty.
Plus, the damn fight is not a battle of wits and courage, but a chase sequence. Ho-hum.
Still gonna see it, though.
That “Clash” scene reminds me of The Rock/Scorpion King monster climax of The Mummy Returns.
And not in a good way.
It would be a shame if Clash hordes up 3D screens with it’s fake 3D that was only recently converted as a cash-in move whereas Dragon has some of the best 3D of any movie ever released and is a great movie to boot.
Is there a way to edit comments on this site?
i would rather watch Harryhausen’s stop motion Medusa any day than the CGI Medusa that’s been showing in the previews. This movie looks like a complete piece of shit that will make $75m opening weekend.
@Mr Tribeca: it goes without saying that anything that reminds you of a Mummy movie is not a good thing.
Mostly, I want this movie to fail because of Sam Worthington. Did someone wake up one morning & make this guy a big star? He was weak in a weak Terminator movie & weak in Avatar. I don’t know why, but I want nothing but failure for that guy.
@Cinematically – Wholeheartedly agree. The most telling thing about Worthington is that in AVATAR whenever the avatar version of Jake is on screen, it has far more life than anything Worthington has done in any movie so far. You know, the one that was obviously tweaked by the CGI staff.
My quip to the wife about CLASH is that of course he’ll beat Medusa, he’s already a stone so her face is no threat.
Maybe it’s just me, but I loved the hell out of the 81 version when I was a kid. I agree with the above comments, the original Harryhausen Medusa scene was better than this. Real tension trumps mindless CGI action every single time.
WORTHINGTON. BOW.
Worthington is good. Completely outclassed Bale in T4, and didn’t try to overplay it in Avatar. His subtlety should not be confused with woodenness. He comes across as much more sincere than other recent stars, like Gerald Butler, who think just being animated is acting.
Do the effects in the ’81 Clash look, uh, tacky? Sure! But so what? I remember watching it with my Dad and he dug it more than I did.
The stop-motion and cheesy rear-projection etc, complimented the story, which, let’s be honest, has always had a child-like feel to it. (not unlike “Jason and the Argonauts” as well as the others)
This dorky new one seems to want to take everything so seriously. People weren’t less sophisticated in 1981, they just knew it was a movie based on mythology and the went with the flow. (I never did like that stupid robot owl, though)
I haven’t seen the new one and have no plans to, btw.
I plan on spending next weekend releasing my Kraken.
Mark: EXACTLY. Best new actor going. Put him in everything, for all I care. At least he isn’t a douche and doesn’t ANNOY ME with a bunch of stupid quirks and floppy-haired ironic quips. Sick of young actors trying to be all funny and above it all. Worthington just comes in and HANDLES IT, like Charles Bronson circa Mechanic/Stone Killer era.
Anyone else think this should have a more smokin’ chick or two though? Nothing against Gemma Arterton, ’cause she was cute in Pirate Radio, but she’s not PRIME LEVEL, and Isabelle Miko is kind of a ten-years-ago never-happened C-lister from Coyote Ugly… That’s like LESS 2010 star wattage or name value than Piper Perabo. And that Alexis Devola or whatever her name is was cute for ten seconds in RIDDICK POWER but somehow went from being 20 to 47 in six years, and her face is too rounded and eyebrowed for my taste.
This should have someone awesome like Keira or Evan Rachel or Emma Roberts.
Mark and Lex: Agree on Worthington. I’ve said it before on these boards, but the reason he’s getting so much work is because he is a MAN. He just shows up, acts tough and carries the movie with minimal fuss. A movie like Avatar didn’t need some Chris Pine-esque charmer (nothing against Pine, who I think is great in Star Trek) stealing the scenes and drawing attention to himself. Imagine The Matrix with Will Smith instead of Keanu Reeves. There is a definite place for actors who aren’t showy, yet can handle an action film by just being badass.
Plus, he was good in that Somersault film I saw a while back.
The other thing about Worthington is that he appears to take the world he’s in completely seriously. A lot of actors would do it in some ironic, wink-wink fashion, but Worthington looks like he’s proper serious about whatever beastie is attacking him. He seems to be a green-screen dream. Some actors obviously don’t like it. Ewan McGregor looked bored as fuck in Star Wars.
I’m always surprised when studios hire crap directors to helm these nonsense remakes and then people are surprised when they turn out to be atrocious. Yes the original Clash is dated but it has artistry and heart. This is just another soulless studio cash-grab and Letterier confirms himself as a card-carrying member of The Hack Pack.
Leterrier wasn’t a bad choice. He’s ahead of where Snyder was before 300. Who do you want? Ang Lee? Seriously.
Seeing this tonight. Leterrier is one of the best action directors working. Give him a good script, like “Unleashed,” and he’s golden.
Every time Lexie starts waxing poetic about his bromance with Worthlesston, I hear this in my head:
“I just want you to know this is, like, the first conversation of, like, three conversations that leads to you being gay.
Like, there’s this and then in a year it’s like, “Oh, you know, I’m kinda gonna want to get back out there, but I think I like guys,” and then there’s the big, “Oh, I’m… I’m… I’m a gay guy now.”
DTG:
You bring up Sam Worthington more than I mention K-Stew, Megan Fox, Carey Mulligan and Dakota Fanning COMBINED.
Oh, yeah: WORTHINGTON POWER. I wish I was more like him.
How To Be More Like Sam Worthington – Lesson #1: Immediately stop wishing to be more like someone else.
LexG: The Hemsworth brothers must be new idols of yours, too. They show up in Hollywood, and within a few weeks of arriving they’ve both got lead roles in tentpoles, and the younger one gets to smash Miley Cyrus.
HEMSWORTH POWER. BOW.
Nah, those douchebags are like the Australian version of 1993 Jason and Jeremy London, last seen last never doing absolutely nothing.
Though it looks pretty cool that that dude gets to write on Miley’s shoe and put rocks around her. COOL.
There is a third Hemsworth brother, too, but he’s kind of ugly which is a shame for him. He’s the Andrew Wilson of the trio.
“Nah, those douchebags are like the Australian version of 1993 Jason and Jeremy London, last seen last never doing absolutely nothing.”
GOOD POST.
LAST SONG POWER.
48 MORE HOURS. SO stoked:
(LOVE this song):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wxOVn99FTE
One of the London twins played Jason in some recent Jason & The Argonauts TV movie. Probably Jason, since that would make sense. I think one also romanced Jennifer Love-Hewitt in Party of Five for a spell. She never looked better than in that show. MATTHEW FOX POWER, too.
Is The Last Song going to do well? Dear John made quite a lot.
Despite review I still go see this on Friday, it looks good enough for a matinee price. Not surprised about the 3D, though not quite sure what Lowry was expecting, working for VARIETY one would think he’d known prior about the last minute 3D additions. Hollywood is bound to destroy the 3D revival before its even properly enjoyed, its inevitable in where such an industry is dependent upon perceived success and copied for the sake of a dollar; i.e., AVATAR 3D=Everything in 3D, HANGOVER= HOT TUB, etc. Especially now with the exorbitant prices, it’s only going to take one major bomb of a film to send it crashing. On a side note, I would like to see CLASH make a decent return so Worthington isn’t regulated to the dollar bin, he’s the closest thing to any of the action heroes of the bygone era of the 70′s & 80′s.
Good to hear Djawadi’s score is good. I was hoping he’d finally deliver a good score for a big actioner such as this.
I’m always surprised when studios hire crap directors to helm these nonsense remakes and then people are surprised when they turn out to be atrocious. Yes the original Clash is dated but it has artistry and heart. This is just another soulless studio cash-grab and Letterier confirms himself as a card-carrying member of The Hack Pack.
Lexie, if someone actually did tally up just the number of times you have posted about “K-Stew”…. you’d probably get served with a 50 foot restraining order.
I’ve probably only matched HALF the times you’ve gotten your nipples hard for Worthington.
How is it that nobody is complaining about that clip Jeff posted? I am stunned at how bad that entire sequence looks. Medusa flops around ridiculously, and looks, CGI-wise, to have been rendered in 1996 by an Apple 2E. Not only that – the action inserted there is not well cut or exciting visually.
My expectations have been completely shattered by that glimpse.
I need to see some real sense of humor from Worthington soon. Not romantic comedy sense of humor, but at least Chuck pouring the beer over himself in LONE WOLF MCQUADE sense of humor.
@ Burma – Does Worthington-inspired rants from LexG count as humor?
Ray, maybe. Also I just caught up on the thread, and I get what you boys are saying, but the buzz-cut doesn’t bother me that much. Razors for shaving date back thousands of years. Just imagine Titus Pullo with his hair grown out a bit.
But how does it compare to Hercules in New York?
PG-13? well that explains the quip about it been a kid’s movie. And only 106 minutes, that’s disappointing.
Ang Lee doing this would be AWESOME. For example the Calibos character would be super interesting, and he’d make the scenes with Andromeda’s soul being summoned to Calibos and carried in the cage by the giant vulture dreamy-creepy.
Many people will walk in and out of your life . . . But only true friends will leave footprints in your ed hardy shop heart.To handle yourself, use your head;To handle others, use your ed hardy clothing heart.