Meh.

That's my reaction. Really.

For a movie that got me so excited even by the mere sound of its title, I was surprised to find myself very disappointed. You have no idea how long I've waited to see this movie. And the trailers were so fantastic it seemed like it couldn't go anywhere near wrong.

If I could use one single word to describe it, it would be soulless. It's like a perfectly beautiful mannequin, but no matter how beautiful it is, it's still lifeless.

I just read a Vanity Fair interview with the director, Louis Leterrier, where he states his reason why he had to make a drastic change to the plot as opposed to the original. He says that he just doesn't buy the fact that Perseus picked up and embarked on this completely suicidal mission for the love of a Princess. So he had to change that.

UH, OKAY. So in his version he made Perseus embark on a suicidal journey to avenge his family, whom we spent such a short time with in the beginning that we feel no bond whatsoever with them anyway, only to lose its entire purpose in the end when Perseus engaged in a rather friendly, non-hostile father-son moment with ZEUS? I thought he hated the Gods? I thought he wanted nothing to do with them? So he just hated Hades, when his family was really just unfortunate collateral damage when Hades invoked his wrath on the soldiers of Argos who toppled Zeus' statue to the ocean (creating a very nice replica of the fourfive-toed statue over the cliff, btw ;D) Seriously, if I could rewrite Hades' lines when he met Perseus, it would be: "Dude, it's nothing personal. Really." Weak. Very weak.

So Louis Leterrier wanted to avoid a love story, but tossed in a female character that has no basis of being there at all aside as playing the role of a walking narrator. She absolutely has no relations to Perseus, or anyone around him, and yet she watches over him since he was a baby, acts like his guardian angel, mentor, trainer... and ends up falling in love with him? Er, is it just me or is that a little tad... disturbing? Seriously, the whole time watching this movie, I keep thinking, WHO THE FRAK IS THIS WOMAN AND WHY DOES SHE EVEN CARE ABOUT PERSEUS? Is she just bored in the course of her immortal life and decides, oh, here's an interesting subject, let's watch him grow up and die before my eyes yet again. I have all eternity with nothing to do anyway. Heh. Weak. Very weak. Besides, mythology dictates that Perseus should be with Andromeda. Sure, any filmmaker can change things the way they wanted to, but I'm not one who condones any drastic changes made to a mythological legends that has rooted for thousands of years. That's just not cool.

And the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, WTH? Poseidon was reduced to NOTHING. There was really only Zeus and Hades. Everyone else were just standing around and we don't even know which is which that they should've just credited them as "God sitting to the right of Zeus", "Goddess sitting to the right of the God sitting to the right of Zeus". SERIOUSLY, why credit them as Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite? I don't even know which the heck they are! And what's with the shiny sparkly Zeus? And why the heck are the Gods dressed in Saint Seiya armors? And why did the Kraken belong to Hades instead of Poseidon, like the original? The Kraken rose from underneath the sea, which technically would've been Poseidon's territory. It's just very careless to leave Poseidon entirely out of the storyline. In fact, it's really careless to reduce THE REST OF OLYMPUS into nothing but mute extras.

And what's up with Hades channeling a dying, 1000 yr old Voldemort? He was nowhere near the horrific God of the Underworld. I don't feel the darkness and fear. He just sounded like a DYING OLD MAN VOLDEMORT. COME ON MAN, DON'T STEREOTYPE RALPH FIENNES JUST BECAUSE HE PLAYS THE DARK LORD. It just looked stupid.

I'd suggest you all to watch the 1981 version, but for your 2010 eyes, it would probably look like crap. But believe me, the story has so much substance, and works better as a "myth". There's magic in the 1981 tale, it's like a fairytale. Read through the plot summary of the 1981 Clash of the Titans on Wikipedia and tell me that isn't a better story that the 2010 version should've stuck with? Or at least the core of it. One thing I loved the most about the 1981 movie was the part where Perseus follows Andromeda's spirit that rose every night from her bed andcarried off in a golden cage by a stop-motion vulture to Calibos to receive her daily dose of riddle for her suitors. And there's that part where Athena gave Perseus a mechanical owl as a substitute for her own owl to guide his way to the three witches. The new Clash of the Titans gave a nod to the 1981 mechanical owl, Bubo, as it has a short cameo in the movie, but serves no purpose at all.

One thing I give Leterrier credit: he did a great job visualizing a new world of mythology. The opening where they introduced the story of the Titans through constellations and space was stunningly beautiful. The fall of the statue of Zeus was very dramatic as well. The aerial view of Argos was breathtaking. The pegasus was magical, and the flying scene with the Pegasus even more so.

But Sam Worthington... I just don't see him at all suitable for a period role, he just doesn't sit right in a skirt, you know? It's like seeing a Roman soldier wearing an astronaut's space helmet, you know what I mean?

The surprising highlight for me was Mads Mikkelsen. I recognized him after 10 minutes of watching his scenes that he was Le Chiffre in Casino Royale. I really liked Le Chiffre, and I really liked Mads Mikkelsen. He suits the role of an Argos soldier, and you can feel his brute and girth as a warrior, you know? Is it weird that I find him hotter than Sam Worthington?

Disappointing. It's bigger and definitely louder... but with all the technology of 2010, it's a shame that they wasted it all on a mediocre, weak unmythical plotline. You might say that I shouldn't really make comparisons with the 1981 original, but hey, it's there. I can't just ignore it if IT'S THERE. You just can't avoid comparisons after doing a remake. Well, that's just my two cents.