Soundtrack Central The best classic game music and more

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Angela May 6, 2010 (edited May 6, 2010)

Finally got around to checking out Clash of the Titans the other night.  Took in a 2D viewing, in light of all the bad press that the 3D presentation has been receiving.  Despite its apparent number of deviations from the original (I've never seen it yet myself), it does appear to follow the basic beats of the Perseus mythology as I remember it.  The biggest change seems to be that this is a revenge tale more than a love one, Andromeda playing second fiddle to Perseus' angst and drive at avenging the murder of his family.  Interesting enough, the love interest, as subtly layered and non-impacting as it is, went to the goddess Io, a character who apparently wasn't even in the original at all.

People speak highly of Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson's performances as Hades and Zeus respectively, but I'll tell you, they really didn't make much of an onscreen impact to me.  Sam Worthington is pretty much being Sam Worthington - the same guy you saw in Terminator Salvation and Avatar.  Personally, I thought the real star performances belonged to Mads Mikkelsen and Jason Flemyng.  (You'll know the former as Casino Royale baddie Le Chiffre and the latter as Button's father in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.)  They're both supporting roles, but they turned in excellent work as comrade and villain to Perseus respectively.

Ramin Djawadi's music score is utterly forgettable, miraculously more so than his previous work on Iron Man.  Filmtracks wrote its most sardonic review yet, but every word is pretty much dead-on; there's nary a lick of originality or memorable cue in the entire lot.  What's it say when the best music associated to the film was the song they used for the trailers, The Used's The Bird and the Worm?
 
Taken on its own, Titans is a decent popcorn flick - rarely anything more.  I'll need to see the original film for comparison's sake, but I went into this remake expecting some kickass confrontations with gods and mythological beasties, and that's what I got.  The close-quarters fights with Acrisius/Calibos was particularly noteworthy, as were the Scorpion battle and the Kraken's destruction of Argos.

Oh, and to longhairmike, Bubo does make an appearance, albeit a very brief one.  More of a cameo nod to the fans, but you'll be relieved to know that he was not CG-modeled. smile

longhairmike May 6, 2010 (edited May 6, 2010)

what?!? only a cameo appearance? the owl helped guide perseus and woke him up to warn him of the scorpions!!
Did perseus have GPS on his cellphone in this remake so that they didnt need him?
Man,, i get so mad at remakes trying to invalidate my childhood fantasies.
Also i think it would look ridiculous to put a Larry Blackmonesque codpiece on an owl...

Angela May 6, 2010

longhairmike wrote:

what?!? only a cameo appearance?

Funnily enough, they played on the fact that he wasn't needed for the journey.  It was a terse but strangely effective quip, but I'm sure it'll make a lot of longtime fans go, "Aww man...."

Adam Corn May 7, 2010

I just saw this a few days ago as well.  I went in expecting a popcorn movie and that's what I got, but I'd hoped for a slightly more exciting one.

The first half of the movie is decent enough - the effects are solid and though the first act is a bit rushed and low on dramatic effect it's enough to set the stage for some outlandish man vs. mythological monster action, which is what we get with the scorpion battle.

Unfortunately the two major battles that dominate the second half are underwhelming (the best parts of the final battle all revealed in the trailers), and with the story and acting being predictably thin there isn't much remaining to carry the film, aside from a few cool costumes and effects in places.

Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson play their roles effectively but certainly not remarkably enough to win any particular accolades.  I agree with Angela that Sam Worthington plays an almost identical character to that in Avatar - though his understated acting style has a quality of sincerity and he certainly has Hollywood looks, if he's going to keep headlining blockbuster films sooner or later he's going to have to start showing more charisma.  And I would disagree regarding the supporting actors - though a couple of Perseus's comrades are likable enough in a gruff action hero sort of way, there isn't anything approaching a star performance.

Having never seen the original movie I had a feeling that one peculiar scene in this new version was a throwback to its predecessor, which this talk about Bubo confirms I suppose.

I'm not sure if we'll get many more of these big-budget mythological adventures before the Hobbit films but I hope whatever does come our way has a bit more substance, even if only in the action.

Crystal May 7, 2010 (edited May 7, 2010)

I'm curious about how this film is in 3D. I'll go check it out and maybe bring some aspirin along.

Yeah, the music is pretty unmemorable.
That trailer music, however, is awesome.  They ought to note where they get music sources from, like put it on the bottom of the screen during a trailer or something.  At least it would shorten googling it.

As for Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, no matter how much CG smokiness, I kept seeing them as anyone but Hades and Zeus. So these two parts were a waste for me.
Io was good as the love interest/protector and I totally saw the chemistry between Perseus and her.
I'm interested to see Gemma in the new Prince of Persia movie.

Spoiler
The Medusa Sequence was really well done, I thought.
I thought it was cute how she frowned/got bummed when that Djinn? man didn't turn into stone.

End Spoiler

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