I’m going to be honest: I had never seen the original Clash of the Titans when I watched the 2010 remake, so I did not walk in carrying a childhood memory that needed protecting. In my eyes, that should have helped the movie. Nothing ruins a remake faster than loving the original.
Except, apparently, a lackluster story and some acting that feels like everyone was waiting for the computer monsters to show up and rescue the scene.
I did not hate Clash of the Titans, but I also did not think it was a good movie. It is one of those big popcorn movies where the good parts are genuinely fun, the bad parts are very obvious, and the whole thing feels like it was built to look expensive first and make sense second.
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Clash of the Titans review: the short version
The effects are the best reason to watch Clash of the Titans. The giant scorpions work. The Kraken works. Some of the creature stuff is exactly the kind of ridiculous mythological nonsense I wanted from a movie like this.
The problem is everything around those moments. The story is straightforward enough, but the acting is uneven, the action gets too shaky, and the movie has that very specific post-Avatar 3D-conversion smell on it even when you are watching it in 2D.
What works
The special effects are easily the strongest part of the movie. The giant scorpions could have looked completely fake in the environment, but they actually hold up better than I expected. The Kraken is ridiculous in the correct way. If you are going to make a movie where gods yell from shiny rooms and monsters crawl out of the sand, at least make the monsters worth seeing.
I also liked the basic adventure structure. It is not complicated, and that is fine. Perseus gets pulled into a gods-and-men mess, a city is under threat, the Kraken is coming, and everyone has to run around doing mythological errands before the big thing eats everybody. That is not a bad setup for a Saturday afternoon movie.
Liam Neeson also brings some weight to Zeus, even when the movie makes him stand around looking like he wandered into a perfume commercial for lightning.
What does not work
The 3D-era action style hurts this movie. We did not see it in 3D because I had read enough early reactions saying the 3D was terrible, and I was not interested in paying extra money to get a headache. After seeing the movie in 2D, I feel pretty good about that choice.
Some scenes already feel too busy without another layer of fake depth thrown on top. The quick cuts, the camera shake, and the action staging occasionally make it feel like the movie is trying to punch you into excitement instead of actually building it. It reminded me of the shaky-cam fight scenes from The Bourne Identity, except with more sandals and spray tan.
Medusa was also a little off for me. I wish they had used a real actress for more of the face and upper body and then built the snake elements around her. Maybe they did motion capture, maybe they did not, but the final result looked too artificial compared with some of the better creature work.
The acting is weirdly uneven
The story itself is not terrible. I do not know how close it is to the original, but the remake makes sense in a simple quest-movie way. The problem is that the performances do not always sell it.
I like Sam Worthington and I like Liam Neeson, so I was not walking in ready to complain about the cast. But Worthington spends a lot of the movie feeling trapped between serious hero mode and action-figure mode, and the movie never gives him enough personality to make Perseus more than the guy who has to keep walking toward the next monster.
Again, I was not expecting an Oscar movie. I was expecting gods, swords, monsters, and someone yelling about destiny. It delivers some of that, but the human parts are not nearly as fun as the creature parts.
Should you watch Clash of the Titans now?
If you want a huge, messy, mythology-themed popcorn movie, sure. Clash of the Titans is not the worst way to spend a couple hours. Just do not go in expecting an epic storyline, great acting, or a remake that justifies itself beyond, “Hey, what if the Kraken looked expensive?”
That sounds mean, but I do not mean it as a total dismissal. There is a place for movies like this. Sometimes you want a good ride through a world where gods rule the earth, monsters jump out of nowhere, and a Kraken can ruin everyone’s afternoon. This is that movie. It is just not much more than that.
Where to watch or buy it
If you want to revisit it, you can look for Clash of the Titans on DVD, Blu-ray, or digital. I would stick with the regular version unless you are specifically curious about the 3D conversion, in which case I wish your eyeballs luck.
FAQ
Is Clash of the Titans 2010 worth watching?
It is worth watching if you want a simple monster-heavy popcorn movie. The effects and creature scenes are the draw, while the story and acting are more uneven.
Is Clash of the Titans better in 3D?
I would not recommend seeking it out in 3D. The movie was part of that post-Avatar 3D rush, and even in 2D some of the action feels too shaky and busy.
What is the best part of Clash of the Titans?
The creature effects are the highlight, especially the giant scorpions and the Kraken. They are the main reason the movie still works as a casual rewatch.
