CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
‘Clash of the Titans’ Bores More Often Than Thrills
CHICAGO – The unjustified remake of the ’80s camp-fest “Clash of the Titans” may have been re-purposed for the trend of 3-D but its performances are still tragically 2-D and its plot practically see-through. With a story so paper-thin that I half-expected a character to announce “Now is the time for the clash of the titans!,” the anticipated pic is more boring than aggressively bad and proves that all the mythology and fancy CGI in the world can’t disguise a lack of movie fundamentals like plot and character.
Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
“Clash of the Titans” opens with the birth of Perseus, the offspring of Zeus (Liam Neeson) andthe wife of King Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), rescued from a watery grave by kindly fisherman Spyros (Pete Postelthwaite). Flash forward about twenty years as the now-grown Perseus (Sam Worthington) may look like a warrior but he’s stuck in the life of a fish-catcher.
Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Clash of the Titans” in our reviews section. |
Of course, all of that changes when Spyros and his family happen to be off the shore of Argos when the local citizens decide to throw up the middle finger at the powerful Gods who control their world and proclaim their independence. After they topple a statue, Hades (Ralph Fiennes) summons enough Hell fury to kill Perseus’ family and send him into the court of the Argosian King and the lovely Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) just in time for her mother to proclaim her more beautiful Aphrodite. Big mistake.
Flash to Mt. Olympus where the Gods are discussing what to do about these pesky humans. Zeus gives Hades permission to teach them a thing or two about independence and the Lord of the Underworld informs the people of Argos that the legendary Kraken will be unleashed upon them if they do not sacrifice Andromeda for the greater good. Perseus, the ageless Io (Gemma Arterton), warrior Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), and a few other soldiers that might as well be wearing red chain mail they’re so marked for death head out on an ancient road trip to find the one thing that can kill the Kraken. Road trip!
Clash of the Titans
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Pictures