Clash of the Titans Movie Review

Okay! I think this is the high time to flex my Communication Arts muscles.

I watched this with my girl friends and one of my girl friends' significant other <3

I think it was last Saturday April 10, 2010, one of my good and close friend informed us she's gonna work in Hong Kong, probably by May already. That shocked me though =( but I wish her well <3 I'll probably visit her some time soon in Hong Kong when I've saved up enough money.

This is the synopsis based on imdb.com

"The Clash of the Titans" is set in the Greek city of Argos where a war is about to explode between man and the gods. Perseus (Sam Worthington) raised as a fisherman, but is actually a demi-god. Perseus is the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) who is about to take on the gods after the death of his family. Zeus' brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) was the one who killed his family, and Perseus wants to kill him. However, it is Perseus's destiny to rescue the city of Argos from the ruthless rage of Hades and his Kraken monster. With nothing to lose, Perseus leads a band of soldiers on a quest to defeat the Kraken. In doing this, Perseus will prevent Hades from overthrowing Zeus and in turn destroying mankind. 

On my review:

 I thought the narrative or storyline was bland. It doesn't have much twists and if there was it was just a slight teeny tiny bit of hint that film students can sense. It seems like the beginning and end's story was well planned but it's in the middle part that's not so well thought of.

Technically, "Clash of the Titans" is a quest story or journey narrative. This type of narrative tells us that the hero leaves home and the story has a strong central character- in this case, Perseus. In a story, the hero has a desire or goal he has to achieve which was to take revenge because the gods, particularly Hades, killed his family. Later on he'd go on to save the Greek city of Argos from the wrath of the gods. Perseus goes on an adventure but in the end he returns back to Argos.

I can't seem to find the right story structure for this one, the storyline itself is so simple it's more simple than the basic three act story structure. I don't know, perhaps I'm not looking harder but if that's the case- when the audience have to look harder, then it's not a good story told. 

Perseus' character is round that's true but I can't seem to understand why almost all of the other supporting characters are flat. All doesn't seem to have human characteristics and abilities to love, hate, change their minds etc. Almost all seemed like robots with only one characteristic/quality while Perseus seems like the only with more humanly characters and is the only character well thought out by the writers. Perhaps it would be better to flesh out the other supporting characters as well and it would compliment Perseus' character that would lead to a better story telling because Perseus is our vehicle to the storytelling process.

Editing is okay, it's the basic Hollywood rules and style of editing. Continuity problems peeked a little but that's not noticeable for most of the audience but you have keen eyes you'd know. Camera shots are also great, I love how it was used to make the audience feel the greatness of Argos, Zeus, Olympus etc. 

On the good points, the visuals and film treatment were great courtesy of the green screen galore. The actors are also great considering the shooting environment which is mostly made up of green screen is not a conductive environment for acting. I like the screenplay, the acting cues and lines help distract the audience from the simple storyline. 

On a lighter note, I'm having a gladiator sandals phase right now because of this movie <3

But don't be like me trying to analyze the movie when it's supposed to be light entertainment; just enjoy the show. That's the role of a filmmaker- to take in the insanity and give people entertainment, relaxation and a break from the real world and even aiding people to see what's happening around the globe. Media is considered the fourth pillar of the society. So if you see a Communication Arts or film maker, learn to respect them.