A sequel to Louis Leterrier‘s epic blockbuster remake, Clash of the Titans, was announced almost immediately after the first movie was released on April 2, 2010. Clash went on to make over $491 million in worldwide box office, bringing back well over its $125 million price tag and, despite what you thought of the movie itself, leaving the decision whether to actually go through with Clash of the Titans 2 or not was pretty crystal clear.

As for who would direct the sequel, it was unclear at first whether Leterrier would return or if he’d be replaced. Now we know that he’s officially out and that South African director Jonathan Liebesman will be stepping in to take his place. No word on if Leterrier just decided to move on to other things or if it was the studios choice to try someone new.

Clash of the Titans
Blu-ray | DVD | Video On Demand
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Starring Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen
Release date: July 27, 2010

Hollowness is found at the center in director Louis Leterrier‘s Clash of the Titans. What should be a glorious and romantically fueled approach to the classical Greek myth succumbs to the travesties of CGI. It results into an unnatural depiction; one in which charts Man’s rebellion against the Gods. The 1981 film of the same name managed to depict the same premise so naturally by using special effects of the older Hollywood tradition (stop-motion effects). Greek myths are almost impossible to re-imagine. Their fluency and fantastical aura surrounding them makes such tales inadaptable to the big screen. Their qualities work best when they are intertwined within a contemporary story and setting, working successfully as metaphors and allegorical tales. Leterrier’s version doesn’t depend on adventure tactics and characters’ motives. Its reliance is on solely adhering to so much CGI.

Leterrier imposes upon himself the duties of mythic storyteller. So burdened with this task he tries to elude previous depictions of this myth and venture out on his own limb and recreate the myth from his own vision. He does not want to stay in accordance with the 1981 film. All the more respect for him. But most of the time an untidy representation of this mythical world pervades Leterrier’s entire picture. His picture suggests no orderly activity, offering sporadic moments of engaging action set-pieces and others that hit rock bottom. The 1981 film feasted on extravagant action sequences that felt real and looked plausible enough to represent a Greek myth. Most importantly that film cashed in on the romantic and emotional qualities that managed to drive the film toward recognizing the different uniforms of humanity. Deliberate attention was paid to the emotional aspect whereas the 2010 film shows no inquiry into this subject, resulting with characters that manifest no worthy sentiment. We find our lack of caring and emotional attachment towards the film’s characters deriving mainly from their inabilities, or the script’s (either one), to evoke the slightest notion of feeling.

When it comes to fanboys, no one is better suited for any job you can think of than Joss Whedon. The writer/creator/producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse has developed an army of followers who will love him to the end of time.

Marvel Studios has apparently realized this faithful following and how much Whedon is just a geek and fanboy himself. According to Deadline Hollywood, the maker of epic comic book movies is in final negotiations with Whedon to direct The Avengers, which is the film that will bring all of these massive characters and storylines into one film.

Clash of the Titans
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton
Rated PG-13
Release Date: April 2, 2010

The original Clash of the Titans is a movie I have very fond memories of from when I was a kid. I remember enjoying Medusa, Pegasus, and all the other elements of Greek and Roman mythology, and I used to eat that stuff up when I was younger. And since the original was moderately successful and Hollywood has run out of new ideas, a remake was inevitable.

I’ve got nothing against remakes in general, so I gave this the benefit of the doubt and hoped that the creators could deliver a fun action film with some fantastic beasts. Having seen the original film, I think it is unfair to compare this film to it, because if I did I would really dislike this one. The new film stays close to the original story, but then tries to add elements that end up adding nothing. So, if I look at it as a completely new franchise, does it hold up any better? Sadly, it does not, as this turns out to be just another mediocre action film that is about as faithful to Greek mythology as the Mummy films are to Egyptian mythology, and lacks the fun that made the original so enjoyable.

Looking for another remake? Well you’ve come to the right place, or better yet time. Over the past couple years it seems like every month or two we get the [dis]pleasure of a new remake. This is especially true when it comes to the genre of science fiction and fantasy.

Well the new Clash Of The Titans looks to capitalize on this trend in movies. I personally have never seen the original but have heard about how enjoyable it was and will probably be renting it for a watch some time soon.

One of my favorite types of media is mythology-based fantasy. The Percy Jackson book series was one of my favorites because of its use of Greek mythology. That being said i was extremely excited for the new Clash Of The Titans. It lived up to my hype level and I am so happy for that.

The only thing that I would like to say is I have not seen the 3D version on principle. I refuse to support the Hollywood craze to up-convert movies. If you want to have a 3D film please, I beg of you, film it in 3D. But enough of that though, let’s get to the SPOILER TALK!

Below are some of my spoiler-filled thoughts on the film; Make sure to put in your spoilerific thoughts in the comments!