Despite being a financial success, this year's Clash of the Titans remake directed by Louis Leterrier was critically slammed and generally disliked. This may be why Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have approached another director for leading the upcoming sequel.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jonathon Liebesman director of the upcoming science fiction action film, Battle: Los Angelos, recently signed a deal with Warner Bros. to direct the sequel written by Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson. Clash of the Titans 2 will also feature the return of star Sam Worthington and Gemma Arteton and will be shot in 3D.

Marvel has been dominating the film news airwaves these past few days. Despite the controversy surrounding Ed Norton and the recasting of the Hulk, both Avengers and the more child friendly adaptation of the award winning comic Runaways have begun production plans.

Production Weekly announced yesterday that Runaways, along with the second Clash of the Titans film and Sam Raimi's Oz The Great And Powerful, will begin filming early next summer. Coincidentally this is the same time that Joss Whedon has scheduled the Avengers to begin production.

Bleeding Cool has also announced that Whedon has begun location hunting in Manhattan, hoping to add a down to Earth feel for the film. Apaprently, work has also begun on designing the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's that will feature prominently throughout the movie.

Clash of the Titans’s catch phrase is “Damn The Gods”, however a more accurate one would be “Damn This Movie”. The film is a boring mess that is anything but godly.


Clash of the Titans follows Perseus (Sam Worthington), a boy who was found at sea by a modest fisherman. Perseus turns out to be the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), and his adoptive family is killed by the vengeful god Hades (Ralph Fiennes) in a battle between the village Argus and the gods. Through a series of events Perseus is sent on a quest by the ungrateful natives to defeat Hades’ gigantic beast, the Kraken.


The film begins well enough with a rather inspired retelling of the origins of Greek mythology through stars and constellations shaped like the Greek gods of old. It’s an interesting and rarely used story technique and it is visually striking in this film. However, after this sequence it becomes painfully obvious that further innovation or creativity will be hard to find in this film.


The acting is wooden and uninteresting. Sam Worthington proves that his acting technique is not to be understated, but just to be flat and uninteresting. Never before have I met a more uninteresting main character. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes command attention when on screen, and their acting jobs are the only true standouts in the film. The rest of the cast is made up of relative no name actors, and their characters are about as noticeable as they are. The only characters in this film outside of the gods and monsters that are remotely interesting die before we can get to know them. It’s ironic that Perseus gives a speech midway through the film that hails the remaining cast members as noble and heroic men, however he never calls them by name. We don’t know their names either.


The special effects range from being adequate and interesting to subpar, and this hinders a film that is filled with monsters and magic. The only true special effects sequence that was interesting to me was the Scorpion battle which happens in the first third of the film. This sequence is fun and action packed and is a painful reminder of what this film could have been. The creature designs are also creative and fun to watch, but they never do much on screen. Medusa, The Fates, and the wooden Arab creatures (yes I don’t know their actual name) were all creatively designed but for the most part don’t do much for the film. The Kraken however is the most disappointing aspect of the film. Hyped up since the very first lines of the movie, The Kraken makes its final appearance in the final moments of the film. However, it is on screen for little more than five minutes, and four and a half of those are it rising out of the water.


The film is riddled with laughably bad moments, and you’ll find the majority of fun you will have with this mess of a picture is at the films expense. However, it does make one fun reference to the original film that will make some fans happy.


Score: D+

Ok. I've been lazy and haven't been able to offer my opinions on the latest movie trailers to make their web debut this week.

Iron Man 2:



Looks as fun and entertaining as the first. Robert Downey Jr. once again looks at the top of his game, and Mickey Rourke is perfect as the villainous Whiplash, even if it's difficult to understand him. The action also looks ratched up from the first with robots and bullets flying in every direction. My only true complaint is that the robot suits look even less impressive then the first film. Given that two years have passed you'd expect the special effects to be up a notch or two. War Machine does kick ass though.

Score: -A

Robin Hood



Er...ok. This one I'm a little more skeptical about. Never once in this trailer did I feel Robin Hood. Although I love Ridley Scott as a director, this feels like yet another mideval war film. I don't see any real Robin Hood action or story going on at all besides some arrows and few traps. This once again tries to mix rock anthems with fantasy storytelling, which for the last time doesn't work!

Score: C

Clash of the Titans



Speaking of using rock music to make a fantasy film seem more "pumped", we have the new Clash of the Titans trailer. I actually like this better then the original trailer, the sepcial effects look better and the acting especially Laim Neeson as Zeus seems well done. But really, this film just seems odd. "Damn the Gods" is its tagline. Clash of the Titans isn't a manly action film, it was a special effects extravaganza about the battles of Gods. This new film seems to miss the point and love the original film had. Yet, the Kraken looks cool.

Score: C+

Alice in Wonderland



Oh my God is the imagery in this film beautiful. Easily my favorite interpretation of Wonderland, Tim Burton injects his own style into the already LSD laced headtrip. My only skepticism comes from the story, which seems to play out like a sequel to the original story rather then a strait adaptation. Although I appluad Tim Burton for trying to make the film as much his own as possible, having too much of a different story may actually loose audiences though. We'll find out next March.

Score: -A

Shrek Forever After



It's Shrek One More Day everyone! The only true laugh I got out of this trailer was the obvious comaprisons that can be made to the infamous Spider-man arc. Although the animation has improved, who honestly cares if they end the Shrek story? It's not some saga that we've been anxiously waiting on the edge of seats for years to see the conclusion to. I personally would've liked to see the story end at the second film.

Score: C