The remake of Clash Of The Titans is now the third film I've seen with rising star Sam Worthington as the lead, or costar of the film. And with each film I see, whether it's Terminator Salvation or Avatar, I keep saying "Hmm, he's not that great a leading man. But perhaps he'll be better in his next film." Well, after Clash, I'm not going to say that anymore. Sam Worthington is NOT a leading man. I've never thought he was a bad actor, and he's never been less than convincing in the roles I've seen...but he has limited range and even lesser charisma. And range and charisma are important to leading men in the movies, which is why so many TV actors fail to make the jump to the big screen (right David Caruso?)Your leading man is usually your main character so, if you don't get emotionally invested in him, you don't get emotionally invested in the whole story...no matter what kind of epic craziness is going on. So Sam, sorry, no more please.
To be fair, there's a moment in Clash when Worthington's Demi-God Perseus gives a rousing speech to his men...and in that brief moment, he shines. Perhaps because Worthington is a tough, ultra-masculine bad ass in real life his real personality came out and was allowed to shine. And perhaps if he was given a role where he could play himself, rather than 'a character', he might have a future in the acting business. After all, every time Keanu Reeves tries to act, it's been disastrous (Bram Stoker's Dracula)...but when he plays a dude from the valleys, he positively shines (Point Break, Speed).
Worthington doesn't sink the film at all but it's not good when his co-stars all make more impact than he does. All of his posse, from the noble hardass Mads Mikklesen, the dryly comical Liam Cunningham, and commanding ubber-babe Gemma Arterton all register more strongly than the film's star. Making matters worse are an impressive cast playing the Gods, from the booming Liam Neeson, sinister and creepy Ralph Fiennes (his and Neeson's scenes being the best in the movie) not to mention Jason Fleming's enraged mutant, Pete Postlethwaites defiant father, Polly Walker's provocative Queen and Alexa Davalos's poised, humanitarian Princess. Mr W could take notes from all of them. And even the script, which is majestically shit and underwritten, is no excuse as demonstrated by his co-stars. There's a scene in Clash that reminds me of 1980's campfest Flash Gordon where both heroes, Worthington in Clash and blond lunk Sam Jones in Flash, stand in a throne room and witness huge political happenings which then kick off into an action sequence. And, by holy fuck, Sam Jones makes more of an impact. The prosecution rests.
Not being that interested in Greek mythology or being that familiar with the 1981 original movie, I can't compare how the plot differs from those two sources. However, the 2010 Clash is basically a revenge movie as Perseus seeks revenge upon the Fienne's Hades and the rest of the Gods, by stopping massive sea beast,The Kraken, which is being unleashed to teach mankind a lesson. The simple plot is very dour, quite dark with little humour or characterisation to up the fun factor (which despite it's violent nature, 300 had in spades). The character of Andromeda, whom Perseus had to save in the original, has no real connection with the hero this time out, making her inclusion in this version utterly pointless.
On the plus side the film looks fantastic, from the richly textured, tactile, earth toned sets, locations and photography to the gritty costume design and special effects. While the CGI isn't first rate, it does do a good enough job to create the world of ancient Greece without becoming unnecessarily distracting. The Gorgon Medusa has the worst time of it being a reminder of The shitty Scorpion King, several years back.
The action serves to distract from the skeletal plot as well, with the giant Scorpion fight being particularly tense and inventive. The Medusa encounter works pretty well also, although Perseus's buddies do get dispatched a little too quickly to be truly tense and entertaining.
In the end this reminds me a lot of director Louis Letterier's previous film, The Incredible Hulk. That also had a weak leading man, special effects that weren't quite 100% and fantastically designed and stylised visuals. And just like Clash, I felt a little distant from proceedings, and dare I say, borderline bored in a few instances. But fortunately, just like that Hulk sequel, there were large, brutish creatures, to smash shit up where the going got dull. And sometimes that can be all that you need.
1 comment:
I quite enjoyed Clash. It was a load of old tosh and totally underwritten but it looked great, had some great actors and some pretty cool monster fighting action. I agree that Worthington wasn't up to much. But to be fair he wasn't required to do anyting much except look surly and angry and bash things good. The writers basically turned what was a shiny romantic quest adventure in to a grim one-note revenge movie. Still, Neeson and Feinnes were great, Arterton and Davelos were hot and the action was pretty fun. Enjoyable rubbish.
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