And once again Hollywood proves it has run out of original ideas. Why else would they remake this movie? Back in 1981, when special effects were beginning to take serious root in films, we had the original CLASH OF THE TITANS. It had some cheesy claymation mixed with some less cheesy special effects. But it did have a story. A damn good one. Sure there were action sequences, especially when Perseus (Harry Hamlin) met up with Medusa. But these action scenes were barely a few minutes long. The story of the gods, how they felt about humanity (and how humanity felt about them) dominated the storyline. Yes, there was an ACTUAL story.

Fast forward to 2010 and you get this ...this ...this mess-of-a-remake that relies almost solely on CGI and, well, basically nothing else.

The brief understanding of the god/human relationship is thrust aside in favor of action scenes galore which have squat to do with the story. There are so many throwaway characters as to be laughable. And 3-D? For marketing purposes only. Save yourself some cash and see it in 2-D ...if at all.

My son went with me to see it (he's as much of a movie junky as I am) and we both nearly fell asleep for lack of anything approaching a viable understanding of who was carrying the storyline. We still ask each other, "What was the point, again?" Sam Worthington seems to be a hot commodity in today's movie market. TERMINATOR SALVATION and AVATAR are two of his more recent accomplishment. And although I found those two to be lukewarm in terms of story, they at least kept me engaged enough not to yawn. And Liam Neeson has also been splattered all over film posters (from TAKEN to KINGDOM OF HEAVEN). But a god? And Zeus for that matter? Not the best casting choice. He just didn't have the presence I was expecting. Perhaps the story (or lack thereof) stifled his performance. Probably.

I also MUST caution women against seeing this if they enjoyed the strong roles in the 1981 original. You'll find no such comparisons here. There's really no good female character to be found. The closest was Alexa Davalos (DEFIANCE) as Perseus' love interest, Andromeda. But her role is so laughably short and misunderstood that you won't care what happens to her (and things do happen).

My final word of caution comes to those of us (all of us) struggling in today's economy. We need our escapism, and sometimes (occasionally) Hollywood allows us to have it. But not here. You might as well sit on the toilet and release the crappen!

Despite its flaws(the uneven acting and the episodic storybook-like structure) I really like the original Clash of the Titans, especially for the set design and the Harryhousen effects. In short, it is flawed but good nostalgic fun. This 2010 remake is very well done in the costume and set design and some of the effects are truly incredible, but emotionally it is ultimately hollow.

While I do agree the effects were incredible, especially the Kraken, some of the scenes could have been better done. In particular with the gorgon Medussa. A scene that terrified me when I was little in the original and still does to some extent, but as has been pointed out once or twice before there was more emphasis on too much action not enough suspense which diminished that scene's appeal in this.

The music comes across as rather generic. It strived to be rousing, energetic and bombastic, something you would find with Erich Korngold and Bernard Hermann, but sadly it came across as generic and boring. Pacing was an issue as well, it was very uneven here. It felt as though the not-so-important scenes dragged and the important bits felt rushed and skimmed over. The direction was disappointingly lethargic too.

My main complaints though are with the acting, story and script. As I have said, the story and acting weren't the strongest points of the original, but both elements had their moments. However, the story has a very uneven structure, it is quite episodic, but it is also rather unexciting. On the whole the dialogue is awful and very banal, and there were some scenes where it came across as cheesy or forced. The acting wasn't much to go on either. Sam Worthington was merely alright, he has the heroism and charm, but then there is the accent that comes and goes and I got the sense that the delivery of some of the lines and the action sequences didn't come naturally to him. I was more disappointed in the bigger names. Ralph Fiennes doesn't seem to have a clue what he is doing here, and Liam Neeson looks lost and embarrassed. Gemma Arterton can be good(BBC's Tess of the D'Urbevilles) but while she is very pretty, her character is rather vapid.

Overall, it had its moments, but it was unengaging and disappointing. 4/10 for the production values. Bethany Cox

CLASH OF THE TITANS is surprisingly fun for an effects-heavy Hollywood blockbuster, a remake of Ray Harryhausen's last movie (of the same title),made in 1981. While this is the inferior version - and I'll always plump for stop motion effects over CGI - it remains an engaging, entertaining piece of modern cinema.

Meathead Sam Worthington gives another ultra-wooden turn as Perseus, a demigod on Earth who decides to go on a quest to teach the vengeful gods a lesson. He's teamed up with a bunch of characters who are far more interesting than him (including Mads Mikkelsen and a wooden golem type guy) and spends the rest of the movie battling various CGI creations.

The story is slim and the dialogue slimmer, filled with predictable characters and stereotypes (Gemma Arterton's walking exposition-type character is particularly ill served). The scenes with the gods are silly and trite, with the likes of Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson looking like they're dressing up at the local panto. In essence, CLASH OF THE TITANS is a string of set-pieces involving the mythological monsters of old, including the Medusa and the Kraken.

Yet something works. It's an easy film to watch, light-hearted and unpredictable in places in regards to the fate of certain characters. The movie is heavy on spectacle and the action isn't too bad at all. I enjoyed it, and I'll be sure to check out the sequel (WRATH OF THE TITANS) in due course...