'Clash of the Titans' (10)

'Clash of the Titans' (10) (PG-13) **

Writers: Travis Beacham, Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Polly Walker

There was a certain cheesy charm and goofiness to the original "Clash of the Titans" back in 1981. I was 13 years old when it came out and I went to see it at the Hawthorn and Libertyville theatres about 5 times. That doesn't mean it was good but the Ray Harryhausen effects were cool then and had a certain cheap charm to them. I also didn't know that Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith were slumming it but you have to admit it was good casting. The only thing is what is up with that robotic owl that looked like it was from a cute, Disney cartoon. So it is with a heavy heart that I report that the remake which cost ten times as much has half the wonder and heart of the first one. At not one point in this movie was I excited or in awe. There is a problem these days with blockbuster fantasies that either are great looking but have no heart like the over rated "Lord of the Rings" movies. Then there are the expensive ones that don't look that great and have no heart either. That describes this remake perfectly as the special effects didn't seem that special to me. The movie is also dull with bad dialogue and acting from heavyweights who come off as hammy and weak. I know that dialogue in a mythology movie can't really be that great or smart but at least give it a try. Same as the horrible "Troy" with Brad Pitt these movies come off as flat sounding and silly. You also have a great actor like Ralph Fiennes who comes off the dullest and weakest I have ever seen him. At least Olivier was hilariously stiff and entertaining in the original, Fiennes just looks lost. When Zeus, played lazily by Liam Neeson, yells "Release the Kraken!", and the Kraken comes out, the Kraken actually is not scary and dies easily. It is so anti climatic that after the Kraken is dead I actually expected someone to ask "Do we have anything else to release besides a Kraken." Then I expected Zeus to say "No, don't have anything else to release", then someone would say "Oh well then, I guess that's all there is. "Yes the Kraken was released and now it is dead, I guess that's all we can do then, yep that's all." Now we have a movie that sounds like a Monty Python skit and is a very lifeless movie to boot.