Clash of the Titans [Blu-Ray]

Clash of the Titans is cinematic cotton candy: light, fluffy, bright and sweet, with zero nutritional value. It's fun to ingest once in a while, as long as you understand that nothing will be stimulated, aside from your direct pleasure centre. Unhampered by a shitty 3D conversion, Clash looks spectacular in high definition. This update of the 1981 film plays even faster and looser with the mythology of Perseus than its predecessor. Sam Worthington (Avatar) continues his string of serviceable hero roles as the demi-god raised by a fisherman. In this iteration, men decide to flip Zeus the bird by toppling a giant statue of him, unleashing his ire upon his impudent creations. Defacing an effigy of their god means war, led by Hades and a pack of nasty harpies. Perseus's surrogate family dies in the initial assault, immediately turning him into an aspiring deity slayer. Back in Argon, Queen Cassiopeia declares her daughter Andromeda (Alexa Davalos — Gwen Raiden of Angel, fellow Whedonites) to be more beautiful than Aphrodite — another big no-no. Hades (sanctioned by Zeus to teach the puny humans a lesson) demands Andromeda be sacrificed or all of Argon will be destroyed by the Krakken. Suddenly, everyone knows that Perseus is the son of Zeus cause he didn't get sucked into Hades' inky vortex and he's off on his hero's journey with a bunch of indignant warriors. Perseus refuses to use the gifts from Zeus dropped on his path at first (an adamantine sword and the winged horse Pegasus), vehemently declaring his desire to accomplish his quest as a man. There's a battle with giant scorpions, some wicked looking Djins, the classic eyeball hostage scene with the Stygian Witches, an extremely CGI-looking Medusa and the budget blowing effect that is the awe-inspiring Krakken. Deleted scenes and an alternate ending reveal massive indecision from the storytelling department. Entirely different emotional relationships between Perseus and Zeus, and Perseus and Andomeda were shot, as was a lot of extra footage of the counsel of gods. The unfinished effects work in these scenes is a hoot to watch. There's a whole feature on Sam Worthington doing his stunts because of what he feels audiences expect from their action heroes — you've got to give him kudos for his Medusa-gazed moose knuckle. "Maximum Movie Mode" contains the usual focus points, storyboards and commentary, but with a greater emphasis on behind-the-scenes footage, pre-visualization animation and pre-FX scenes shown in tandem from multiple angles, along with picture-in-picture of the finished film. It may be cut like a kid on a candy rush with blunt scissors was in the editing suite, but Clash of the Titans is an undemanding feast for the eyes.