評論立體電影《超世紀封神榜》 / The 3D movie: "Clash of the Titans" ... not worth the cash

I saw the movie "Clash of the Titans 3D" at the Coliseum cinema this Tuesday.

Well, I must say the storyline was not that original (shadows of Lord of the Rings) and the 3D did not enhance the movie (unlike Alice in Wonderland 3D). It was disenchanting to see GI Joe flying on Black Beauty with pigeon wings and fighting a worm from Dunes in an effort to save a woman who had been offered up by the tribe as sacrifice to the big beast. And the serpent-like Medusa was no match for Angelina (heart throbbing) in Beowulf.

Good that I went on a Tuesday when admission was only half-price.

Photo Credit/references:

Chinese: 《超世紀封神榜》電影海報 Wikipedia

《超世紀封神榜》是部2010年奇幻冒險電影，由路易斯•賴托瑞（Louis Leterrier）執導。電影重拍1981年戴斯蒙•戴維斯（Desmond Davis）執導的《諸神恩仇錄》，改編希臘神話英雄柏修斯大戰梅杜莎和挪威海怪救出安朵美達公主的故事。演員山姆•沃辛頓飾演主角英雄柏修斯，連恩•尼遜飾演宙斯，其他演員有雷夫范恩斯、艾莉莎•黛娃洛絲等人演出。電影原定2010年3月26日，因臨時轉製為3D電影而延後到4月2日全球同步上映，而香港則搶先於4月1日上映。

情節: 權力鬥爭促使人民與統治者，及統治者與神之間的對立；但眾神之間的戰爭卻會摧毀整個世界。在人間成長的柏修斯（山姆•沃辛頓飾）要從復仇心重的冥王黑帝斯（雷夫•范恩斯飾）手中拯救自己的家人。柏修斯憑著無懼勇氣，自薦向冥王宣戰以換取天帝宙斯（連恩•尼遜飾）的神力並解放人間地獄。柏修斯於是帶領著士兵朝著詭異的世界展開冒險之旅。他要戰勝惡魔和怪獸，唯一的方法是接受自己身為神衹的身份，並創造屬於自己的命運。

English: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_the_Titans_(2010_film)

Plot: The film begins with a narration that explains the three Olympians who battled the Titans long ago: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades provides their means of defeating the Titans with his creation, the Kraken. After the Titans' defeat, Zeus created humans and ruled them while Poseidon ruled the sea, but Hades, having been deceived by his brother Zeus was forced to rule the Underworld, learns an alternative means of gaining power from humans different from his brothers receiving theirs from human devotion: fear!

Millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in the sea, discovering a baby, Perseus, and his dead mother, Danaë, inside. Spyros decides to raise Perseus as his own. Years later, Perseus and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a statue of Zeus as a declaration of war against the gods. Hades appears and commands harpies to massacre the soldiers before he himself destroys Perseus's family's fishing boat. Perseus tries to save his family, but to no avail, the surviving soldiers take Perseus back to Argos. During a feast for the returning soldiers King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Argos compare themselves and their daughter, Andromeda, to the gods much their daughter's dismay. After convincing his brother to let him loose on humanity to punish Argos for its defiance, Hades appears in the courtroom before killing the remaining soldiers while Perseus is unaffected. Revealing Perseus to be the demigod son of Zeus, and aging Cassiopeia to death, Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to the Kraken, Argos will be destroyed in 10 days.

The king seeks the help of Perseus after he is placed in the dungeon. Perseus initially refuses until he meets Io, a woman who does not age as punishment for refusing to be seduced by a god. Io then reveals his conception was a punishment conducted by Zeus on Acrisius, the former king of Argos who was married to Danaë, for his actions against the gods. When Acrisius sets Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin; an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, Perseus accepts as he and Argos' finest soldiers embark on a quest to find the Stygian Witches with a pair of hunters and Io following. To counter this turn of events, Hades enlists Acrisius, now called Calibos, to kill off Perseus by giving him a bit of his power.
While in the woods, Perseus and his men discover a sword forged in Olympus that will only display power if it is wielded by Perseus. Perseus refuses both it and Pegasus that the gods are offering as assistance, as he does not wish to be a god. Calibos attacks the group, but Calibos is unsuccessful, losing his hand before escaping. However, Calibos's blood forms giant scorpions from the sand that attack Perseus and his group. Though they slay several scorpions, most of the group are slain, and the survivors are surrounded by more of the monsters. They are saved by the Djinn, cursed men with magical powers, who tame the scorpions. Though not trusted prior to healing Perseus's wound, a Djinn joins Perseus's group as his kind wish to see the gods defeated.

At the Garden of Stygia, the Stygian Witches tell Perseus that the head of Medusa could kill the Kraken, but that Perseus and his group will die in the process. After leaving the witches, with the hunters taking their leave, Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus. He refuses. Zeus gives him instead a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon for passage into the Underworld. While Io remains outside Medusa's lair, due to a spell that forbids any woman from entering the area, Perseus's remaining soldiers fight hard to stay alive, turning to stone one by one by her gaze. But with the Djinn self-destructing himself and Draco's sacrifice, Perseus manages to behead Medusa. Perseus emerges in time to see Calibos kill Io by stabbing her from behind. Perseus engages Calibos in combat and kills him using the sword from Olympus, turning him back into Acrisius in human form. With his final breath, Acrisius tells Perseus to never become a god. Perseus rides Pegasus back to Argos with Medusa's head to find some citizens of Argos have formed a cult of Hades and are planning to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken. Hades reveals to Zeus the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians. As the Kraken begins its advance, Zeus learns of Hades's true agenda and is powerless to stop him as the god leaves for Argos to ensure his victory.

Perseus returns to Argos, but Hades sends his harpies to stop him before Perseus defeats the creatures sent by Hades and uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone as Cepheus is killed by the cult leader before being crushed under the shattering Kraken. Using the sword, Perseus drives Hades back to the Underworld. After saving Argos from destruction, Andromeda suggests that Perseus become king and rule Argos at her side, but he declines. Zeus appears before Perseus again and offers to make him a god, but for a second time he refuses. Zeus warns Perseus that Hades will return to rule the world in darkness when he amasses enough fear from mankind. Since Perseus is intent to stay on Earth, Zeus resurrects Io, and the two embrace while Pegasus flies above them.