Sam Worthington was whiny and unlikable. And I'm sorry, but the man look 35, not 22. So he did not look the part to me at all. Not to mention he was robotic and flat. It was like he kind of just coasted through the role because he figured regardless of his effort, he'd still look like he was awesome. Ralph Fiennes' Hades seemed more sad than intimidating and powerful. Liam Neeson is always wonderful, but in this case it was just... ok. Thankfully he threw out the disclaimer that his son loves mythology, and that's why he took this role. It seems more forgivable to do a role like this if it's for your kid.There was just something about this movie that was very... regurgitated. And, yes, I realize that this movie is a remake, but that's not what I mean. It was like they looked up the recipe for "epic stew" and followed the recipe exactly, without throwing any kind of interesting spice into it to make it unique. It was like a formula: [(unknown background + death to beloved adopted family)revenge / fighting monsters on a journey] special effects = EPIC MOVIE. Sorry, it's not that simple. There has to be more, like attachment to the characters, better writing, and *ahem* better acting.
It was bland and boring. I was bored most of the film even though two of my favorite actors were in it. So many of the earlier events and dialogue set up things for later in a completely obvious and cheesy way. Percy's dad says "Someone has to take a stand," and we know one day it will be
Percy to do it... campy, much. Stuff like that littered throughout the whole movie. Each scene had this feeling that the movie thought it was much more important than it really is. It's supposed to be some kind of epic journey, but the whole thing only lasts a 1 hour and 50 minutes. It's abrupt and sloppy. And sadly unfulfilling, even in the special effects. I was excited to see one of my favorite side guys in this movie, Hans Matheson... (loved him since the mini series he did of Dr. Zhivago with Keira Knightley) only to see him get turned to stone. I was really irritated as he was the only character I really even liked the whole time.The Kraken and a lot of the scenery shots were good, as far as effects go. And I guess the giant scorpions looked pretty legit, but Medusa looked AWFUL. My husband said she reminded him of the Scorpion King. I said she reminded me of Carrigan from the old Christina Ricci version of Casper. Yeah... it was that bad. You would think that pouring money into a movie and hyping it up like this, they would make things look more believable than movies that were done a decade ago. Audiences are NOT dumb and they will not just be distracted by the pretty colors... if it looks bad, we'll notice.
Overall, this movie was bad, but I wasn't offended or mad about it. The only thing I am slightly worried about is Gemma Arterton. She was... well, bland, in this movie and I HATE to think that she will be the same in Prince of Persia, a movie I am actually REALLY looking forward to. I'm hoping it was just the all-around "badness" of this film that rubbed off on her and that she won't bring anything that I saw in her from Clash to Persia. LEAVE THERE, GEMMA. PLEASE!Since this was such a disappointment, I'll just leave you with what I liked. The trailers were AWESOME. If you want to waste your money on this, then go see is at the AMC in Arlington, because: they show you the Salt trailer, which, let's be honest, looks like good fun; the trailer for Splice, a movie with Adrien Brody that looks like it will give me nightmares for weeks, like woa; and, lastly, Prince of Persia! And Jake looks pretty fine in that role. Plus, that may actually turn out to be a movie that LOOKS neat, that really turns out to BE neat... unlike Clash of the Titans.
Yep, it was pretty terrible. It would be fun to watch again and make fun of, but other than that...let's just say this movie should never be talked about again.
ReplyDeleteWell I think you're being a little too hard on Sam Worthington (I know you don't like him to begin with)...I really don't feel that any of the actors did that well, but not because of their acting...when you're given a shitty script, there's only so much you can do with it...
ReplyDeleteReally...this movie was about as good as I had expected it'd be. These movies aren't made because they're going to be quality filmmaking...they're just about badass special effects and being loud, which this movie was. I mean really...the original was bad too, so I wasn't expecting this one to be that great either.
Hate to say it, but I knew it was going to suck from day one. The problem is that that original Clash of the Titans isn't a very good movie either, so it's not like they had some kind of revered classic masterpiece as reference material.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of Prince of Persia, early word is good. There was a press screening a week or so ago, and although critics were not allowed to publish full reviews, they were allowed to publish "impressions" (whatever that means). I cross-referenced about 10 or so of these articles and they all came up saying that Prince of Persia is a fun action adventure film, with great chemistry between Gyllenhal and Arterton, and that while it's not a big watershed moment for the genre, it's a great summer blockbuster. So at least we can look forward to it.
Matt- But it WASN'T badass. I expected at least badassery, not quality, but it WASN'T. It was BORING.
ReplyDeleteKevin - YAY Prince of Persia! I am getting more excited now!
No I meant it was loud...lol
ReplyDeleteI went into the movie expecting it to be like the original. So in that sense I enjoyed some aspects of the movie. But the entire time Hades was on screen all i could think of was Voldemort. He played it the EXACT same way. And I don't have a problem with Sam Worthington, because I liked him in Terminator. But I do agree he kinda plays the same character the same way. I liken it to Tom Cruise will always be Tom Cruise in [insert movie].
ReplyDeleteSaying that, the best characters by far in that movie were the hunters. I liked them :-)