Trash of the Titans - Hindustan Times
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Trash of the Titans

Hindustan Times | BySerena Menon, Mumbai
Apr 08, 2010 08:40 PM IST

The film that was trying to push Alice in Wonderland out of theatres to make an entry doesn’t even deserve a 3D screen.

In a humble attempt inspired by the infamous comparative of legendary film critic Roger Ebert — to call Clash of the Titans, a worthwhile 3D film an insult to the use of the medium — would in itself be an underestimation. Louis Leterrier’s remake of the 1981 cult film has fallen prey to an experiment, which those who have dared to see the film would agree went terribly wrong.

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Bugged
Bitten by the James Cameron’s Avatar (2010) bug, many Hollywood studios have allegedly begun converting their movies into 3D. In the process of ‘up-converting’ it, the mindless Greek mythology entertainer that the film could have been has lost its chance.

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Most parts of the film, when viewed through the Polaroid glasses available at the IMAX theatre in the city, looked badly lit. While the audience struggled to even see the screen clearly, the ‘dark ages’ of the 900-800 BC era that the film was set in, was not helping matters. Rumours of the film pushing Alice in Wonderland out of the IMAX 3D theatre didn’t yield any results as Clash… was only being screened in the normal 3D screen.

Dark ages indeed
Hades’ black robes and dark make-up didn’t help project any light over the faces of the talented actors. Scenes where he materialises out of a thick black haze turned out to be just minutes of blankness altogether.Most 3D films appear out of focus when viewed sans the specific glasses. But this one appeared clearer without them on.

It was almost as if they had forgotten to convert some parts of the film… probably the fun parts, because the film didn’t have any. The only element that came alive in bits was the background that looked worked upon, but did nothing for the actor in the fore, who only looked isolated and definitely not three-dimensional.

Medusa’s entrance into the film was thought to be one of the highlights. Her lair, set within molten lava, was perhaps supposed to be lit by the golden reflection of the fire, but looked only dark.Unlike Alice in Wonderland and Avatar, which used the technology to enhance the believability of the films’ premise, the use of 3D in Clash of the Titans looks deliberate and fails to add anything to the story, instead, taking more away from it.

It could have been a better experience without the gimmickry.It does not look like a 3D film in any dimension, be it film, space or time, and watch it on a normal screen if you must. In hindsight, if they wanted the audience to watch the film with sunglasses on, they should’ve just asked.

Did you know?
The director of this film was a huge fan of the original, Clash of the Titans (1981). In the 2010 film, when Perseus is getting ready to leave for his journey, he picks up a mechanical owl. That owl, called Bubo, was first used in the 1981 version and was put in this film as a cameo to make the fans of the original happy. Bubo was Athena’s beloved magical owl, and in Greek mythology, is known to have helped Perseus eventually defeat the Kracken.

The Film
Mankind, the creation of Greek god Zeus, having grown tired of the tyranny of the gods decides to revolt by insulting Zeus (Liam Neeson) and his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) — by dethroning a sculpture of the latter and by comparing Princess Andromeda with the goddess Aphrodite and so on.

Perseus, son of Zeus (Sam Worthington), unaware of his demigod status, is shaken as his foster parents (fisher folk) are killed in an accident caused by the gods. The angry young hero then journeys with a bunch of unlikely heroes to bring peace to people he barely knows, save a princess and reunite man and god.

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