There used to be two types of actors that became stars. Those who succeeded because they managed to continually make a connection with audiences and those who were in enough films that eventually they were accepted as stars by sheer attrition. The latter method is something that hasn’t been done in a while, with an actor being continually cast in high profile roles in high profile films despite not doing anything to stand out or draw extraordinary box office numbers based on their name alone.
Tom Hanks was one of the former who eventually became a star, seemingly by attrition until he became his generation’s Jimmy Stewart, and Sam Worthington seems to be following this trend. After headlining the biggest film ever in Avatar, and a surprisingly deft turn in Terminator: Salvation, Worthington headlined the film that would be the prime example of why 3D isn’t something you don’t do afterward to boost up box office revenue: Clash of the Titans.
Remade from the 1981 film of the same name, Worthington stars as Perseus. Son of a fisher, or so he thinks, he’s really the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), king of the gods. With people’s faith in the Gods waning and the King of Greek Hell Hades (Ralph Fiennes) using it as a means to seize the throne from his brother, Perseus volunteers to go on a near suicide mission to stop Hades and save mankind from the Kraken.
Worthington makes for a bland hero, seemingly channeling a poor man’s Gladiator era Russell Crowe but without the beard, but has a comfort level with the epic blockbuster film that only comes from top-lining a handful of massive films in his young career. There’s no hesitation or shrinking from him in the role; if there ever was an actor capable of headlining a film like this that could turn them into a massive star if it became a hit it’d be Worthington. This isn’t a particularly good performance, even for a genre film or a blockbuster, but it’s adequate enough not to detract from a great film.
And that’s the problem; this isn’t a great film, nor is it a very good one either. While without the hindrance of 3D it does look a bit better, because it’s properly lit without the darkening of 3D after all, it doesn’t do much with what was admittedly a poor story to begin with. The original was more of a marvel of stop-motion animation and a failure both commercially and critically, as it had been looked at as a Star Wars level franchise and underperformed at the box office at the time. It hasn’t aged well in the years since its release and the remake doesn’t add much to or take away from it.
Taking the same concept and parts of the same script, there isn’t anything new or unique done to the original. There isn’t anything to distinguish it from the original in spirit; this wouldn’t be a bad thing but the original isn’t that good. Being able to raise the bar from bad to passable isn’t a Herculean accomplishment but there’s nothing we haven’t seen in the fantasy genre that hasn’t been better in the last 10 years alone. It’s a solid but unspectacular film.
Considering how poor it looked in 3D and how average it looked without the additional three dollars, the Blu-ray has a marvelous transfer. This is a beautiful film that manages to become much more engaging on the small screen.
Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages is a quick piece on Worthington who was in the middle of a three action film streak when this came out (Avatar and Terminator: Salvation). It mainly focuses on how he wanted to do as many of his stunts as possible, with the cast and crew talking about how much time and effort he put in to doing it himself and doing it as best as he could.
Alternate Ending provides a bit of a more subdued finale than the one in the film but gives it a sense of finale, as opposed to possible franchise like the actual ending provides.
Deleted Scenes are included but don’t add much back into the film.
The Regular DVD release of the film, as well as a Digital Copy, are also included.
James Cameron made it his life’s work to make a 3D film that was spectacular in the format and the remake of Clash of the Titans used it as a cynical ploy to bolster box office receipts. It’s for a reason, though, because it’s not a great film by any stretch and it’s barely a good one at that.
Warner Home Video presents Clash of the Titans (2010). Directed by Louis Leterrier. Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes. Written by Lawrence Kasdan, Travis Beacham, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi based off Clash of the Titans (1981) by Beverley Cross. Running time 106 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on Blu-ray Disc: July 27, 2010.
