WTF?

WTF indeed! We stand for Films, Tunes, and Whatever else we feel like (not necessarily in order!) Professor Nonsense heads the 'Whatever' department, posting ramblings ranging from the decrepit, to the offbeat, to the just plain absurd! The mysterious Randor takes helm of the 'Tunes' front, detailing the various melodic messages he gets in earfuls. Weekly recommendations and various musings follow his shadows. Finally, our veteran movie critic, Lt Archie Hicox, commands the 'Film' battlefield, giving war-weathered reviews on flicks the way he sees them. Through the eyes of a well-versed renegade, he stands down for no man! Together we are (W)hatever(T)unes(F)ilms!

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Apr 13, 2010

Review: "Clash of the Titans" - 5/13/10

Why yes, this IS the haircut I had in Terminator Salvation.

Bastards. That would be a more appropriate name for the movie. Clash of the Bastards. No, that’s not a pot-shot at Hollywood. Nor is it one derisively aimed at the people who tossed us yet another re-make. And it’s certainly not some kind of fanciful filmic reference. Put Aldo Raine out of your mind completely. I didn’t misplace my vowels. What I mean to suggest is that, more or less, ‘bastardization’ relates to you the sum parts of this latest sword n’ sandals (and tentacles) epic. But who ever said that was such a bad thing? I personally enjoy the utterance ‘bastard’. Not so much for it’s implication but rather for its sound. It just has a sort of silly reverb to it. Especially for someone with an English accent, of which there are plenty to go around in a movie set in Greece (?)



And I guess the same can be said for this 106 minute beastie of a movie. It’s definitely a bastard in the best and worse sense of the word.

The more and more you see and hear, the less and less you take it seriously. It’s an effect that, in the end, the movie actually benefits from. For instance, if you were to take this piece of work as an ‘original’ creative enterprise, you’d most likely be offended in a way it unabashedly skewers myth with fiction, pulling us from scene to scene with bog standard visual clichés from movies ranging from “300” to “Pan’s Labyrinth”, from Jackson’s “King Kong” to “Lord of the Rings”, complete with howdah-clad scorpions, comic book aerobatics and After-Effected Planet Earth panorama. The lack of visual imagination in this picture is enough to understandably make the critics cringe (if not vomit with rage). And that doesn’t even touch on those of you who have taken a class in ancient Greek folklore.

But if you’re looking for accuracy then you obviously haven’t learned how this works yet. If you want verity, I suggest reading a book. If you want Sam Worthington riding Pegasus and battling the Gods bare-knuckled then you’re more than welcome to join us.

Though the story is roughly faithful to the original 1981 cult classic, minus (sadly) our beloved Mr. Harryhausen, who had previously brought movies of the genre to uncanny life in such tales as “Jason and the Argonauts” and “One Million B.C.”, this newest installment seems to completely forget those traditions in lieu of the latest 3D/CG craze, which happens to be the weakest dimension of the film. The familiar impetus of that oh-so-classic passage—the odyssey—keeps us on track, however. French actioneer Louis Leterrier laces the journey of legendary (but modestly rendered) demi-God hero Perseus (Worthington) with a quick-step pace that seldom leaves time for questions as he’s is pulled into a vicious war between humankind and the Olympic pantheon.

But what keeps the movie from boiling over in popular nonsense is not the slashing and burning but rather the surprising turns from the entire cast.

You’re bound to recognize a lot of the faces, even if you don’t know them. There’s Polly Walker of the short-lived “Rome” series on HBO. Pete Postlewaite (Kobayashi incarnate) steps in for a scene or two. The list goes on of course. Ashraf Barhom (The Kingdom), Alexa Davalos (“The Mist”), Jason Flemyng (“Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels”) to name a few. Mads Mikkelsen (of the latest “Casino Royale” and the Danish WWII spy-thriller “Flame and Citron”) is wonderfully (and strategically) cast as the grizzled leader of the royal guard. Even Danny Huston falls out of the sky as Poseidon for a criminally-brief sound bite. No comment on the Krishna crazies that dot the film’s subplot.

But as you might have guessed from the trailer, the best part of this here drop-kick of a movie is Liam Nesson and Ralph Fiennes, reprising a strangely low-key mirror image of their back-and-forth from “Schindler’s List”. Only this time, Neeson is the King of Gods, Zeus, while Fiennes rekindles his inner bad guy as the deity outcast Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

Yet the power of their relationship comes not from their rivalry for dominion of the heavens (a mouthful, I know…), but rather from an interesting conflict with humanity in which the peoples of Argos have forsaken their worship of the Gods. For all of its bluster, it’s almost impossible to ignore the questions being posed. In a day where most Americans see religion as an inconvenient leftover of an unenlightened past, “Clash” begs the possibility of a world where the spirits, on the brink of extinction and non-belief, can fight back.

Though it’s a question that goes largely unanswered, the mere asking of it alone gives this otherwise typical action flick a good fistful of brownie points. Not to mention a seriously pissed-off cue from Zeus to, “RELEASE THE KRACKEN!”

Best seen in theaters. The 3D will probably help ease the pain of more skeptical viewers.

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