Clash of the Titans: Review By Yahzee

French director Louis Leterrier was the man chosen to bring a reimagined Clash of the Titans to screen in the digital era of cinema. If you thought that this was going to be the same Clash you grew with, only with updated special effects you might be dissapointed... or maybe not.

For this Clash of the Titans keep few things from the original 1981 film.

The very basic of the story is still here, Perseus (Sam Worthington) must travel through the world to find a way to kill the Kraken, before it destroys Argos or the Princess Andromeda is sacrificed to the gods. The motives however are quite different.

The son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) and a mortal woman, Perseus was left for dead along with his mother by Acrisius , when he was still a baby. A fisherman, Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite), however, rescues him and raises him as his own.

From his adoptive father, Perseus learns to don't trust or hope anything from the gods. But this will change the day that people from Argos rebels against the gods. In the aftermath of the quick revenge from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Perseus loses his adoptive family and is captured by the city's few surviving soldiers.

Hades convinces Zeus that the humans he loves must be punished before they totally rebel against the gods so a treat is issued to the people of Argos, either they sacrifice their princess Andromeda within ten days, or the terrible Kraken will be released and destroy the city.

Perseus then learns of his true origin and convinced by Io (Gemma Arterton), a myterious young woman who's eternally young and has secretly watched over him all his life, he decides to lead a journey with some Argos warriors to find a way to kill the Kraken and take revenge on Hades.

Before leaving Argos, Perseus is told by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen) to leave a golden owl (you know, the one send by Olympo to help Perseus in the original Clash of the Titans). And this is exactly what you should do with this film.

This Clash of the Titans utilizes almost the same creatures, monsters and iconic battles from the original but everything here is given a more dramatic and dark tone. This film is, or tries to be, a more serious approach to the story. Sometimes succeeds, sometimes not.

The characters are generally well played. Sam Worthington keeps giving good, if sometimes monotonous, performances and his Perseus is a far cry from the "cute" and heroic hero from the original. Both Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes also look very imponent in their performances as gods, and brothers, though they are the only gods that actually do something, whilst the others barely have any screen time.

The lead girl this time isn't Andromeda, who's character is also is way under developed, despite being the central piece of Argos salvation. Gemma Arterton however, give us a strong new female lead. Not to mention beautiful.

Acrisius/Calibus is also protrayed as an evil being, but this last second humanization didn't convinced me at all. And the Argos warriors are your usual, tough, skilled and brave warriors.

The creatures look meaner and more dangerous than before. The scorpiox come in big, bigger and a lot bigger sizes this time and make for an action packed scene, even if at times they look too CGI. This problem is also with most of the times we see Medusa's face. Pegasus now is black, and that keeps up with the style of the film.

And this leave us with the most talked about creature in the film.

The Kraken looked very imposing and dangerous in the trailers, and of course a creature that big is something to worry about. The special effects looks great and all, but here's the problem. If you saw the Kraken actions in the trailer, you've seen all his performance here. While the Kraken in the original actually destroys a city, here he barely is an annoyance who is waited and feared through the whole film and quickly defeated by Perseus. Hades winged demons give Perseus way more trouble than the huge creature itself.

The production values as usual with this type of film are truly well done and the special effects are generally good. Perseus and Zeus are given armors instead of robes this time to reflect their more combative personalities.

The music, like the decision to convert the film in 3D, was a last minute change. Ramjin Djawadi was comissioned to replace Craig Armostrong, and really, this has to be one of the biggest flaws with this film. The score is uninspired and totally ineffective, even for a heavily Zimmer "inspired" one.

Perseus reluctance to accept even the slightest help from the gods, or pray for help even at his weakest side is part of a message here. Do humans really need of the gods? Or are we capable of overcome our own problems and solve them by ourselves? While some people might find a hidden atheist message here, I think it's more of a inspiring message. Don't wait for some sort of supreme being to help, do your own fight in life.

All in all, Clash of the Titans pays homage to the original by being both, a fun action packed ride, and at the same time a flawed film. The film takes itself too serious most of the time, and that would be ok if it weren't for some way too cheesy moments. Louis Leterrier once again proves is a man who delivers the fun, but makes films that are below their true potential.

And the finale has to be one of the cheesiest endings since Indiana Jones got married at the end of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.