WATCHING THE TITANS CLASH

If you really don't have a good enough reason to watch "Clash of the Titans", oh well, let me tell you this to persuade you - the hot Sam Worthington in skirts. Excited yet?

Okay that has nothing to do with the movie.

Haha.

Now I'm sure most of you have heard about this movie and might have plans to watch it. I mean, it did claim a spot at the top of the box office before being knocked off the throne by "Date Night" starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey (have yet to watch this one though).

So how was "The Clash of the Titans" for me? 

Oh so that's the Medusa's head he's got there..

I didn't know that.

To be honest, it wasn't bad but it wasn't phenomenal. One would expect such an epic to be huge and big, making you gag with awe but I don't find "Clash of the Titans" as big as it was set out to be.

I love ancient Greek mythology and has always been fascinated by the tales and legends of the Greek Gods and Goddesses. So the main reason I was so excited about this movie is the fact that it involves the Olympians.

Well, the movie was definitely not enough to quench my thirst for knowledge on Greek Mythology but I admit that it did try its best to stick to parts of the myths. And I expected it to be more about gregarious fight scenes and all (something like 300) but surprisingly, it wasn't. Well at least in my opinion, the fight scenes weren't "power" enough haha.

I'm pretty surprised that more emphasis were on the Grecian myth itself, so it was actually much to my pleasure. I thought the Grecian element is a sub-theme incorporated to a war movie but it is in some ways the other way round.

The movie discusses God-human relationship in a subtle way, presenting the idea where human had had enough of the unfairness and injustice of the Gods and so, fought against the Gods.

We've been fed the belief that God is almighty and that their presence are intangible and so it is practically IMPOSSIBLE to actually go to war against the Gods.

But in Greek mythology, Gods sometimes visit Earth as humans, (which is a super cool idea by the way) and so they can actually conduct sexual relationships with normal humans and thus, the existence of Demi-Gods. Again super cool right? That's why I love Grecian legends and stories...they are just super mystical and just brilliant, just knowledge sake.

Okay what I'm saying is, in some ways, Greek Gods are more 'humanized' and so we can actually fight them to a certain extent. I actually love the idea that Gods are in some ways flawless, just like us. I think in some ways it is good because then, we will be able to relate to them better.

I don't see the movie as preaching Christianity, but perhaps indirectly it does. In Christianity, there is only one God but in this movie, we see polytheism. I think what the movie challenge is the idea that God is fair and poses the questions - To what extend should we have faith in our Gods? To what extend do we say "it's enough"...I keep praying for things but only S%^# befalls. (But then again, praying is not about getting things...forgive me for being shallow, but I don't really understand the true definition of praying or prayers, but I treat it as a way of talking to God and just thanking God for the blessings).

One theme that keep circling the movie is "faith towards Gods". God created us (in the movie, Zeus = God) and so we need to be thankful though we are going through practically hell on Earth? We suffer and God still expects us to love Him, so to many, it ain't fair.

But like Zeus summarized in the end, the fear and hatred feeds Hades and make him powerful, making us human suffer more. To a certain extent, it is kinda true. I mean if you don't want to relate it to Gods, it's more like attracting the positive and when we are negative, more bad things seems to happen to us. Though at times, it's not easy at all to think positive.

After discussing the more subtle themes, I guess it's also good to look at the surface. 

There are many versions of Perseus and honestly, who knows which one is the right one. It is then again, a legend and a myth that could holds no truth...could be just stories told by ancient folks.

Perceus is famous for killing Medusa and rescuing Princess Andromeda (who later became his wife) from a sea monster.

"The Clash of Titan" also see Perceus killing Medusa and rescuing Princess Andromeda.

In the movie, Perseus is the offspring of Zeus and a human lady, Danae - so that portrayal is also according to common legend. However Danae according to Wikipedia is the daughter of King Acrisius, while in the movie, she is the wife of King Acrisius who was murdered by the King just so he can get rid of the Baby Perseus, who was of Zeus's blood.

What else contradicts legend?

The character, Io, who in the end, if I'm not mistaken, ended up with Perseus.

I mean, don't get me wrong, she is so darn mesmerizing in the movie but what the hell is her character doing in the movie? I have no idea. If I were the writer, I might just write off her character. If she is meant to be the storyteller, I'd rather use a boom-mega voice over - you know that sort of voice from heaven mighty male voice sorta V.O., ya, that. I thought using that would be cooler and make the whole movie more mystical like. Plus I'm sorry but I just don't feel the chemistry between Perseus and Io. Are they in-love are they not? Sorry not feeling it.

I mean, thank God though that the director didn't make it too lovey-dovey. It would be a pain to watch. I mean, I think the character of Princess Andromeda should be enhanced and developed further. If I were to write the story, I'd maintain most parts but I'll combine Andromeda and Io's character into one.

By the way, speaking about Io...she is supposed to be immortal, right? So how the hell did she die in the end? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are suffering for over a thousand years (or more) seeing your loved ones die, I'm sure you'd have tried various ways to kill yourself and failed. But then suddenly, it's just so easy to die? Seriously...not making any sense. Oh alright, you can argue that the Gods have finally want to take her away. But still her character is pretty stupid right?

There were many scenes that don't make any sense. I think the better way to put it is that the continuity of the movie is quite bad. There were many times in the movie in which certain characters just disappeared out of thin-air - meaning, they just ain't in the next scene and you don't know where they went. For example, (my friend JT also mentioned this in his blog) the spiders and those weird looking blue-eyed robot-like wig-sorcerers were suddenly all gone after one particular scene (I forgot which one), without any explanation.

I mean I get it when some of the soldiers died off after getting killed or literally stoned by Medusa, but the spiders and the Blue-eyed robots?...am I missing some action here and there because I dozed off? Perhaps not. I remember being wide awake admiring Sam Worthington's hotness.

Perhaps they actually shot what happened to these characters but since it's too friggin' long, the editor just had to chop off the parts, leaving us dazed in confusion.

For such a huge production (I'm assuming it is, which all the major props and CGI), they really should take into account all these details to make it like almost flawless. I mean, at least be criticized for something with more substance and subjective like camera technique used or lighting etc., but the discontinuity aspect is really amateurish for such a huge box-office movie.

And talking about camera movements, one thing about Hollywood movies like these is their fight scenes. I don't know if you notice this but most of their fight scenes uses Close-up shots, or Medium shots and fast cuts to enhanced action but I find it super annoying because you don't get to see the fight scene as a whole, using full shots of the actors' whole body movement.

I mean, the choreography of the fight movements in itself is an art but what happens is that our famous Hollywood directors love to play with camera movements to sort of create the emotions, but by doing so, sacrificed the artistic strokes that fight scenes bring to the screen. I believe that martial art scenes can be made as interesting using full-shots, especially if the actors are good with their fighting scenes and movements. I mean if the actors are not good then perhaps camera tricks are necessary, but if the actors are trained prior to the shoot, why not feature those swift fight scenes as a whole instead of just their upper torso and face?

I noticed the same camera movements in "The Clash of Titans" and so the actions were again, some what similar to what normal huge action flicks like these offer.

The resolution in which Perseus kills the huge monster is also a tad too, oh well, un-climatic. In some ways, it failed to create that climax for me. I just don't know if it's only me but I guess that sorta hero saving heroine scene from huge monsters is a bit too cliche and predictable for me.

As for the acting, most people think Ralph Fiennes did fabulous. Liam Neeson was also credited. If you ask me though, there were nothing really striking about the actings per se. I mean they were generally good, some really only so-so. Io for example, was a bit too wooden for me...hmm...I mean, I'm awed by her beauty but untouched by her acting. Princess Andromeda is a tad better but I could judge better if she had more scenes.

Generally, the movie is okay.

Nothing fantastic about but it wasn't a bore. Thanks to the mythical storyline that kinda draws me to it.

Watch it so that you are part of the pack but if you really dislike weak action movies then perhaps you can pass this one.

TC-My Rating:

With Lotsa Love,

TammyC