Apr 05, 2010 12:58 PM
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Well, where do I begin? I am a myth buff - esp of the Greek, Roman and Norse ones, so I was rather looking forward to the release of this movie. I knew the movie was based on the legendary Greek hero Perseus and I had brushed up on my knowledge on my trusted wikipedia and went to see, if not the first, then the first day second show.
I hadnt reached my seat when the credits started rolling and I hastily jammed on my 3D glasses and rushed blindly to sit down.After the first few minutes were spent shushing down neighbours(Pune cinema goers mostly have a habit of always being very noisy at the movies- laughing, chatting, answering calls, and generally making a nuisance of themselves, and I for one cannot bear even a few seconds of unnecessary sound), I settled down to enjoy my money's worth.
And straight away things started going downhill. The story doesnt follow the legend of Perseus, not even that of his birth, and the reasons behind it, and goes on its merry way developing a storyline that to me, was incomprehensible. How and why was he born, how was he brought up, why was he after Medusa, even his chosen life mate, were all a figment of the imagination of the script writer, his own personal legend to tell; nothing to do with the way the rest of the world knows it.But then, I guess we are allowed to give our own interpretations to legends and myths, not that anyone would be offended(as in the case of stories of Ramayana or Mahabharata) or challenge the veracity of it all, right?
A stellar cast which included Worthington, Neeson, Atterton and Fiennes, to name a few, was completed wasted with extra lame dialogues and poor presentation, I almost laughed aloud when I saw Neeson as Zeus and was most offended on behalf of Ralph Fiennes for the way he was represented as Hades. I almost felt as if I was seeing an aged, more hairy version of Lord Voldemort.
Cinematography had something to recommend for itself. Argos was nicely depicted, in truth, all landscapes, even the few seascapes, were beautiful to look at. But that was it - just a lot of beautiful scenery. Lots of battle scenes were included to, I suppose, atone for the shoddy lines, but to me they were merely a colorful hotch potch of swirling motions. All the fight sequences lacked attention to detail and clarity of movement. In short, too much detail, and not enough patience to do it justice. I have seen better action in Happy Feet. The Medusa fight seen was one that still managed to redeem itself, and all credit goes to Medusa for it.
And then there were the 3D effects. Which I saw just twice - Once in the beginning credits, and then at the ending credits. Why did they even bother to convert the movie to 3D, and in the process delaying the release, I will never know.Half way through the movie, I had taken off my glasses, because it just didnt make sense to keep them on anymore. I can do without 3D scorpions, who dont even sting in my direction, thank you very much! Avatar, I am going to blame you a lot for many of the bad 3D movies I will be seeing in the next couple of years.
And then there is the title - Clash of the Titans. For those of my readers who dont know, the phrase refers to the battle between the Olympic Gods and Titans, a race of powerful deities, which the Olympians had won, as per ancient Greek mythology. The title has been borrowed for mere convenience, because it sure has nothing to do with that battle or anything else that happened before or since that event.
I wasnt born when the original 1981 movie was made, which was loosely based on the story of Perseus.And I regret I live to see this atrocity. I like legends and myths and this was a sheer disappointment, creative liberties notwithstanding. The only way I would recommend this movie is if you are knowledgeable in legends and go to watch this movie with a person who has no clue about these things. Because then you can gab on the entire 118 minutes of its screening about the different mythical characters in the movie and actually entertain your partner more than the movie. Provided you are not shushed by a person like me.
Or go if you dont know anything, and couldnt care either way.
