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Movie Monday - Clash of the Titans (2010) - why?
Long before I sort of went "dark" on Movie Monday (that is, the Mondays were occupied with snow shoveling and kids home from school), I had decided to review the latest Clash of the Titans. The earlier COTT comes from 1981 where on IMDB, Roy Harryhausen is listed as producer. Harryhausen is an iconic special effects master in earlier mythical, sci-fi, fairy tale movies. He could take a paper clip and a rubber band and produce screen miracles. What today, special effects guys brush off with elaborate CGI, Harryhausen gave birth too with real ingenuity. If you've never seen a Harryhausen movie, take a look. But look for the special effects; the plots are pretty lame.
Fast forward to the 2010 COTT. What a mess! Now, this movie has some good talent, not the least, Mads Mikkelsen. OK, I'm a sucker for Mads. (What a name!) If you read my review of After The Wedding, you know I liked that pic; the first and only time I saw Mads. But a Danish movie star! I was impressed. Unfortunately, Mads, nor Liam (Neeson), nor Ralph (Fiennes) can save this puppy.
Now, myths are very, very difficult to bring to the screen. You can play them straight (LOTR); you can play them camp (Alice in Wonderland.) It's the directors/screenwriters choice. But first and foremost, you have to play them right.
LOTR got it right because Jackson knew to tone it down during the dramatic scenes. Watch Boromir's death scene. Corny as hell but listen to the music. Shore brings on a dirge. As the action intensifies, the audio drops a notch. Watch the first screen meeting of Aragon and Arwen. This is the love story of the epic but a light squeeze of Arwen's hand and a brief look at Aragon's face are used to convey their relationship.
AIW takes a different tack. Eliminating the out-of-place, sop-to-feminists beginning and ending, Burton plays it over the top and it works. Depp is just as strutting as Captain Jack but the Mad Hatter is mad (which is an historic fact; hat makers did go mad from the chemicals they used.) Alice is used as the anchor to reality for all the CGI. Whether it's the March Hare nervously arranging his knife at the table when Stayne arrives looking for Alice or the absolutely delightful appearances of the Cheshire Cat (Oh, I would so love a Cheshire Cast stuffed animal. Like Chesh says about the Hatter's hat: I would give it a place of honor. And I don't even like cats!), the CGI is expertly meshed with live actors. It works as fantasy and fun.
But Clash of the Titans... It just doesn't work. It's not camp, not even bad camp; that is laughs-a-minute at all the wrong places camp. It's lousy as straight drama. Even the poignant story of Medusa's journey from rejecting maiden to hideous monster lays flat. And everything else is so annoying: When did Polly Walker get that breast enhancement?; Why was the wandering street prophet played like a queen in a flamboyant gay parade? Why didn't they trim Neeson's beard? Why did they even use the Kraken? (OK, so maybe he's mythical but after POTC; he really can't make a surprise dramatic entrance.); Why must everyone declare their sentences like gems of wisdom? Why is it a big deal that Zeus gives Perseus a coin for Charon after Perseus rejects his offer of asylum? (Was Zeus the only place to get money in the world of myth?) My list is endless.
Bottom line: Watch a good fantasy. This isn't one. Oh, and don't make it Prince of Persia, The Sands of Time.
Next week: Are there some good themes to discuss with teens from the Twilight movie saga?
Fast forward to the 2010 COTT. What a mess! Now, this movie has some good talent, not the least, Mads Mikkelsen. OK, I'm a sucker for Mads. (What a name!) If you read my review of After The Wedding, you know I liked that pic; the first and only time I saw Mads. But a Danish movie star! I was impressed. Unfortunately, Mads, nor Liam (Neeson), nor Ralph (Fiennes) can save this puppy.
Now, myths are very, very difficult to bring to the screen. You can play them straight (LOTR); you can play them camp (Alice in Wonderland.) It's the directors/screenwriters choice. But first and foremost, you have to play them right.
LOTR got it right because Jackson knew to tone it down during the dramatic scenes. Watch Boromir's death scene. Corny as hell but listen to the music. Shore brings on a dirge. As the action intensifies, the audio drops a notch. Watch the first screen meeting of Aragon and Arwen. This is the love story of the epic but a light squeeze of Arwen's hand and a brief look at Aragon's face are used to convey their relationship.
AIW takes a different tack. Eliminating the out-of-place, sop-to-feminists beginning and ending, Burton plays it over the top and it works. Depp is just as strutting as Captain Jack but the Mad Hatter is mad (which is an historic fact; hat makers did go mad from the chemicals they used.) Alice is used as the anchor to reality for all the CGI. Whether it's the March Hare nervously arranging his knife at the table when Stayne arrives looking for Alice or the absolutely delightful appearances of the Cheshire Cat (Oh, I would so love a Cheshire Cast stuffed animal. Like Chesh says about the Hatter's hat: I would give it a place of honor. And I don't even like cats!), the CGI is expertly meshed with live actors. It works as fantasy and fun.
But Clash of the Titans... It just doesn't work. It's not camp, not even bad camp; that is laughs-a-minute at all the wrong places camp. It's lousy as straight drama. Even the poignant story of Medusa's journey from rejecting maiden to hideous monster lays flat. And everything else is so annoying: When did Polly Walker get that breast enhancement?; Why was the wandering street prophet played like a queen in a flamboyant gay parade? Why didn't they trim Neeson's beard? Why did they even use the Kraken? (OK, so maybe he's mythical but after POTC; he really can't make a surprise dramatic entrance.); Why must everyone declare their sentences like gems of wisdom? Why is it a big deal that Zeus gives Perseus a coin for Charon after Perseus rejects his offer of asylum? (Was Zeus the only place to get money in the world of myth?) My list is endless.
Bottom line: Watch a good fantasy. This isn't one. Oh, and don't make it Prince of Persia, The Sands of Time.
Next week: Are there some good themes to discuss with teens from the Twilight movie saga?
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