Release Date (UK) – 2 April 2010
Certificate (UK) – 12A
Country – USA
Director – Louis Leterrier
Runtime – 106 mins
Starring – Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

After reading all the negative feedback to the quick fire 3D conversion of Clash of the Titans, I opted to see it in 2D.

Sam Worthington is Perseus, a Greek demi-god raised as a human. When mankind start to question the power of the gods and their rules, havoc descends on Perseus’ life. His family are killed by the god of the underworld, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), as retaliation against the desecration by soldiers of a statue of Zeus. Hades then promises to release the feared beast ‘The Cracken’ on the town of Argos as further punishment, and Perseus is the only chance that the humans have of defeating the monster and killing Hades.

The plot is holey to say the least, but it’s exactly what you expect from such a sword and sandals film and there’s plenty of action to compensate. The fight scenes are well choreographed and compelling to watch, although in a late scene when the characters die off rapidly in Medusas lair it’s difficult to follow who’s still actually in the fight. Clash of the Tirans is not a serious drama, so as long as you don’t take it too seriously its definitely worth a watch.

Where the film really falls down is the lacklustre attempts at humour which are simply not funny, as well as the costumes. Liam Neeson as Zeus looks likes he is wrapped in tin foil and Nicolas Hoult (as a warrior) looks rather stupid in a costume that’s clearly too big for him. Other visuals kept reminding me of Lost – Hades appears in a cloud of electric black smoke (just like the monster in Lost) and the toppled statue with only a foot left will be familiar to anyone who has seen the most recent series of the TV show. Coupled with the similar themes of ‘Good Vs Evil’, I did find my mind wandering about whether the production designers had simply been watching Lost the night before these elements all made it into the film.

If you liked the original and want to see Liam Neeson yell one of cinemas most epic lines ‘Release the Cracken’ then this is definitely the film for you, but this remake certainly won’t keep over time as well as the 1981 version did.