CLASH OF THE TITANS Review

First thing's first, DO NOT WATCH THIS IN 3D! I cannot stress this enough. I backed out of watching the 3D version because I had read that not only did they add the 3D in post-production, but they finished it 2 days before its release. With all the money Avatar's made on 3D, studios want to capitalize on charging an extra $4 for every ticket sold, even when the movie is not supposed to be in 3D. General rule of thumb: Post-production 3D is bad 3D.

The way 3D works is you have 2 images projected on the screen at 2 different polarizations. One image for the left eye, one for the right. Then your glasses have 2 different polarized lenses that block out each image. The right lens blocks out the left image, the left lens blocks out the right. Your brain does the rest.

There are certain rules when making a 3D film. Everything you do you must take the 3D into account. One of the most important being that every shot must be at least 2 seconds long for the audiences brain to register. This is the main reason why directors like Michael Bay don't want to go into 3D because they have to change their directing/editing style. Since this movie was decided to be made 3D last minute, they didn't take it into account, and the 3D, from what I hear, actually ruins the enjoyment of the movie.

And now to other obvious complaints. No, this is not anything like the original 1981 CLASH OF THE TITANS. The first one is a love story of Perseus trying to save the love of his life, Andromeda. In this movie, we see Andromeda, but we really don't give a crap about her. She's just a red hearing to be the one that must be sacrificed to save the city and be the one that the person in charge doesn't want to give up. This movie is more or a revenger story. Perseus' motivation is to kill Hades for killing his adopted family.

The director and screenwriters didn't want to make it like the original, they just took the major plot points and included those. They had to get to Medusa, they have to fight the scorpions, they have to go to the witches, they have to kill the kraken. They had the points set up, and filled in the blanks between each one. I'm cool with that. The original movie's still there and I can watch it any time I want to.

It is a very weak story, but we don't really have much focus on it. The story is just a track to keep the movie moving from set piece to set piece. Right from the beginning set up, they just move everything along. There's a small part in the beginning with Perseus and his adopted family just to create enough bond between them for plot to move forward, then it chugs along with minimal development the rest of the way.

Olympus is probably the best set piece in the film. The place is gorgeous to look at and the gods actually look divine. Liam Neeson's Zeus may have been a little much with his armor looking like it was glossed over with Edward Cullen's lifeless skin (if only that were true), but it was pretty to look at.

Another cool thing was Zeus, Hades (Ralph Finnes) and Poseidon all look like brothers. It's a small thing to really notice but I liked it. Even though Poseidon's not in the movie really at all, Zeus and Hades are the most entertaining of all the actors. Liam Neeson is really the only person that truly grabs your attention when he's on, and Ralph Finnes is the only person you can really despise. Everyone else is just kind of there.

Other major set pieces are all pretty damn fun and great to look at. The scorpion battle was probably the high point even if it suffered from a little bit too much from some confusing camera work and it's pretty early in the movie. Everything was shot on location so the scenery is damn pretty. The Medusa fight was probably the one that I enjoyed the least. It was a cool scene, but the CG on Medusa looked like crap. Not all the CG in the movie is great, but Medusa was the only one that really bothered me. Once I got over it, I did have fun.

It's hard to say whether or not I would suggest this to people. I think most people have made up their minds that it's going to be bad even before giving it a chance. No, this is not CLASH OF THE TITANS. It's just got the name, characters and plot points as the original. Everything else is different. If you can get passed that, and not get roped into watching it in 3D, then it's a pretty enjoyable popcorn movie.

But really, the original, as much as I love the movie, was cheesy as hell.

Good to know. I want to see this just for fun. I noticed that while I loved Avatar in 3D it really made your eyes go where they wanted them to go. Everywhere else was blurry. I am still not totally on the 3D band wagon.

Ehh, I personally did not really like it, but then again, I love Greek Mythology. What this movie did to the mythology is what a lot of people do with lime juice, ice, tequila, and possibly some triple sec. If you do not really mind it, then you will like it, just be prepared to have flash backs of some other movies, like Pirates of the Caribbean, and a dearth of ass shots.

Although, I will say, Medusa was AWESOME looking!

Ooh she can either be done well, or horribly.