Titans flops while Taming soars
Stephen Thurgood
Editoral Staff
Clash of the Titans
“Clash of the Titans” was released on April 2. Set in the mythological universe of Ancient Greece, it tells the story of a demi-god by the name of Perseus (Sam Worthington of “Avatar”) who is the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson). As man got stronger they became displeased with the gods and rebelled. Zeus responded in anger by allowing his brother Hades to wreak havoc in order to make people pray to the Gods once more. Hades threatens to let the gigantic sea monster Kraken destroy the city of Argos, which declared war on the gods by toppling the statue of Zeus, if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed. Perseus’ journey pits him against numerous monsters from Greek mythology including Medusa.
“Clash of the Titans” is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. There are plot differences, but they in no way diminish the story. There are key elements which differ from the original, but the story remains unchanged; it just changes the cogs in the machinery. For example, in the 1981 film the main city of focus is Joppa, where as Argos is the main city in the 2010 version was destroyed at the start of the 1981 version.
Appearing in 3D also allowed the makers to provide more visually exciting elements of the movie, including some impressive battle sequences. However, the movie in no way makes full use of the 3D visual effect so it is recommended that if you have not seen this movie yet, go for the much cheaper 2D version.
“Clash of the Titans” gets 2 out of 5 for being a highly enjoyable movie with some great action elements but fails to deliver on the higher level of cinema which it could have done.
How to Train Your Dragon
The March 26 release of “How to Train Your Dragon” delivers for both kids and grown- ups alike. The story takes place in the mythological universe of the Vikings, in a small village called Berk. The Vikings of Berk are at constant war with dragons that constantly raid their village for stockpiled sheep. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is the son of the Chief, Stoic the Vast (Gerard Butler), and is an apprentice blacksmith. Hiccup is not the stereotypical Viking; he is not strong, athletic, fearless or heroic, but in order to gain his father’s approval he keeps trying to kill a dragon. One night when Berk is under siege, Hiccup hits the fabled Night Fury dragon with his automatic net launcher and the next day goes to find the dragon. The story then proceeds to show the bonding between Hiccup and the Night Fury dragon Toothless, as well as the Vikings attempts to destroy the nest where the dragons live.
Adapted from the series of books “Hiccup the Seasick Viking”, “How to Tame Your Dragon” was the first book in that series and does differ in a number of ways from the original. This was presumably done to make the film more exciting to a movie-goer audience. For example, in the books the Vikings train dragons, they do not fight them. Similarly Hiccup does not have a Night Fury dragon in the book; he instead has the smaller Terrible Terror. With the original books being picture books it is understandable that changes were made but with the changes the stories end up in roughly the same place.
“How to Train Your Dragon” is available in 3D and is well worth the extra $5 to see it in this format. The animated movies make much better use of 3D visuals than their real world counterparts, making the movie seem more realistic.
“How to Train Your Dragon” will be as successful as the movie “Up” due to its appeal to both children and adults alike. It receives a 5/5 for excellent use of 3D technology and a well adapted story-line to make it work for the big screen.