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So, dear viewer, you are in for a fresh dose of Greek mythology, the entire pantheon of Gods and demons and epic battles between the Gods and the Titans after the lack of devotion (sounds familiar) has rendered them powerless, and hence, they look for ways of restoring it. A decade after vanquishing the dreaded Kracken, our hero Perseus (San Worthington), the sole parent (familiar, again) of 10-year-old Helius plans to live peacefully fishing for a livelihood. But as is often the case, this never happens, or there would be no film at all. The defeated Titans under the leadership of Kronos, now rotting in a deep and cavernous dungeon of the underworld, decide to get their own against the triumvirate of Gods, Zeus (Liam Neeson), Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston), the sons who eliminated Kronos to assume power. What, then, takes place forms the meat and drink of this 99-minute spectacle with the emphasis on special-effects. Monsters with two heads, flying horses, the one-eyed Cyclops, creepy crawly creatures, balls of fire dropping hither and thither, aerial missiles all figure in this unholy mess. The only relief is the beautiful Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), whose life was saved by Perseus long ago and who decides to join Perseus in the battle but most of her beauty is hidden behind heavy armour, the price women paid even in those distant days. Based on Clash of the Titans by Beverley Cross, writers Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson have taken a few liberties to modernise the old myth but director Jonathan Liebesman seems to put form above content, apart from a few tacky lines like Neptune showing Agenor (Tobby Kebbel) not only to navigate but also how to seduce mermaids. It raised a rare chuckle in the high intensity crash bang action that numbed the senses but thankfully it wasn’t one of those overlong entertainers. If there was any acting of note, it must have found its way to the floor of the editing room. Sam Worthington in the lead role maintains his freshness, which is admirable in such a no-win situation, and the British cast of Fiennes and Neeson are merely academic. As said before, Rosamund Pike, like the bikini, covered more than she revealed. Maybe our hero would have been better of opting to be a fisherman!
A classic retold The new Titanic 3D is a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of that gamed ship
Fifteen years is indeed a long, long time and that the boxoffice hit is still absorbing for most of the time is surely a plus point. How much that has to do with 3D, however, is quite another matter. Actually, the first effort was spot on and would have survived any test of time. James Cameron, the maker of megahits like Abyss and Avatar, redoes one sequence (the placement of the stars was not quite correct in the original sinking scene), and may be the 3D technology can be felt towards the end, but even the old wine is still effective and the fare rarely feels dated. So much for Cameron’s genius!
Still remember the scene in the earlier film which has Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck standing side by side singing "Nearer my God to Thee." A little before that Webb reels out "no God in the heavens, no power of earth will prevent me from..." Very dramatic in the 1950s. But the old order changeth, and indeed De Caprio and Winslet do an excellent job in this 200-minute classic with its share of romance and melodrama. May be in these days of Hollywood paucity, films like Titanic stand well apart as beacon on a dark starless night. Catch it, by all means. — E.E.M
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On
the 100th anniversary of the sinking of that gamed ship (they said a
cork would sink but not the Titanic, with usual British boast), trust
Hollywood to cash in on such dates. Leonardo Di Caprio still looks
boyish and exuberant and Kate Winslet fresh and beautiful as he paints
the rose on her as she wears only a diamond and that famous smile that
would launch many a Titanic to its watery grave. The sinking scene,
too, raises quite a gasp as it does vertically up before then
careening deep, deep down into the chilling, icy waters below.