Clash of the Titans (2010)

The original film is a nostalgic mix of mechanical owls, Division One footballer haircuts and lumbering beasts in my head – no more than that. I'm sure if you put me on the spot to comment on it I would have fond things to say but perhaps this is only due to the passage of time. Perhaps the original Clash of the Titans was nothing more than a rather wooden effects movie like this remake is – but yet for some reason the 1981 film is given praise for it and this remake was battered for doing just that. Well, I don't have enough memory to be able to compare and contrast so I will just focus on what I watched last night.

It is just what it suggests it will be by producing endless CGI beasts and effects in one serviceable action sequence after another. I only saw it in 2D (3D still not really attracting me) but I have to admit that the size of the creatures and so on was impressive even if only in terms of being to see all that money up there on the screen. Of course this is not the same as saying as the film is particularly good – because it isn't really - it is only "OK". Part of the problem is that it is a very hollow movie; everything looks pretty good on the surface of it technically, but there is nothing below this. I'm not suggesting that the film must be some worthy epic with layering and character depth, but to be honest I would have settled for a bit of fun or a bit of actual excitement rather than just lots of things to look at. As it is though the film is all about the effects and nothing else is really forthcoming.

You can see this in the cast – not so much their names (because there are some big names in here) but more in their performances. Worthington is a solid actor and good looking guy – that is what he brings to the table and in this film he probably does enough with that. Neeson and Fiennes have nothing to do – Fiennes in particular looks awkward and uneasy with his character and it is clear this film is a "job" to him rather than a project. Flemyng is OK under all that makeup while Atherton is pretty but pointless. None of this is a surprise though, it is not a film for actors but rather for effects.

Clash of the Titans is a shrug of a film. If you are looking for undemanding noise that will not tax you one bit mentally but will provide big creatures and spectacle to stare at then this will do the job. It won't do the job particularly well, but it will do it and then move on – you'll have forgotten it within a week though as generally it doesn't have much special or of interest about it.