Clash of the Titans

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

For its intended audience, I suspect this will play as a great entertainment. I enjoyed myself, particularly after they released the Kraken.

New York Post Kyle Smith

A roaring old-school action adventure for kids, with as many mythical beasts as a year at Hogwarts and a healthy dose of smiting without the crazed bloodlust of “300.”

Time Richard Corliss

As to the chief complaint about Clash of the Titans -- that the movie stinks -- what can I say? I liked it. This is a full-throttle action-adventure, played unapologetically straight.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A popcorn movie that reaches back to the fantasy epics of old and forward into the digital future, where the word "unimaginable" no longer exists.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

As Zeus, Liam Neeson twinkles where Laurence Olivier kvetched, and Ralph Fiennes, as Zeus' dark brother Hades (who has egged on the revolt to challenge Zeus), has a slinky nastiness.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

This lavish, spectacular reworking of director Desmond Davis' beloved 1981 original is the rare sort of remake that actually makes sense: With all due respect (and copious apologies) to the generation that grew up with the first film, Clash of the Titans just wasn't very good.

Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore

For all the impressive (but not dazzling) effects, the scattered jokes and stentorian acting (especially from the Olympians), there’s not much here that will stick with you after the popcorn’s gone. But as any ancient Greek could tell you, that’s sort of the point.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Clash of the Titans is a flawed but mildly entertaining regurgitation of Greek mythological elements, but it's also an example of how poorly executed 3D can hamstring a would-be spectacle.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Clash of the Titans is ancient Greece at its cheesiest. It's a big hunk of feta comin' at ya in 3-D.

Empire Angie Errigo

Poorly written nonsense, but lovers of beefcake action will be happy enough with the heroes gymnastically vaulting monsters and slicing and dicing their way around the ancient world. An extra star for Ralph Fiennes, who is a god.

Boxoffice Magazine Pete Hammond

Full of high flying action, nifty monsters, valiant heroes, plotting villains and impressive CGI.

Time Out New York Joshua Rothkopf

Alas, it all comes off as hit and myth, mainly due to our leaden, buzz-cut hero, Perseus (Avatar’s Worthington, no Harry Hamlin), and zero sparks of heavenly-body chemistry or humor.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

There’s little here to improve upon the stilted quality of the original, and it’s even more cumbersomely plotted.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Medusa, at least, is fun to watch, and, as a bonus, we in the audience don’t have to worry about turning to stone (although, watching this film, your eyelids do get awfully heavy).

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Modestly entertaining by the low standards of spring blockbusters. As with "Transporter 2" and "The Incredible Hulk," Leterrier aims no higher than competence and achieves just that.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It all passes quickly, as far as that goes, but when it’s over it passes entirely. And something that sells for a premium price ought to linger.

LA Weekly Nick Pinkerton

"Transporter" director Louis Leterrier is sure-footed when battling Gorgons and giant scorpions, but he muddles the comic-grotesque opportunity of the Stygian Witches.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The movie hasn’t one character or sequence more memorable than the next. It’s as violent, humorless and brutally efficient as a Stalinist purge, a juggernaut of slaughter and smashing that stuns the senses and leaves nothing behind in the memory.

St. Petersburg Times Steve Persall

Clash of the Titans redefines 3-D but in the wrong way; the movie is dull, dingy and, well, let's just say dull again.

Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz

Charm, alas, is the one thing lost in all the banging and clanging of the remake.

Variety Brian Lowry

This "Titans" reboot merely demonstrates that building a more elaborate mousetrap doesn't necessarily produce a more entertaining one.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

There are a number of cheeky winks from the filmmakers specifically aimed at Harryhausen fans; in the end, though, Leterrier's Clash of the Titans is nearly as messy an assemblage of mythic odds and ends as the original.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The remake doesn’t as much improve on the original as match it goofily amusing moment for moment.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Say what you like about the feuds of old, they exerted a dynastic thrust that made sense, whereas Leterrier’s magic tricks are the foe of logic; for some reason, the scorpions wind up as friendly transport for our heroes, so why battle them in the first place?

USA Today Claudia Puig

There's nothing worse than a boring behemoth.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The results are -- there’s no other word for it -- a disaster.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

In the new Clash of the Titans, the effects are computerized, the hero is questionable and, instead of an owl, we get a turkey.

Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen

This remake is interesting mainly for the chance to see top-flight acting talent labor over dialogue so leaden you could cast bullets from it.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

It isn’t a train wreck--a train wreck would be memorable. What’s wrong is wrong by design.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Unlike the original -- which, in a crazy stroke of genius, allowed Shakespearean thespians like Claire Bloom and Maggie Smith, plus Bond babe Ursula Andress, to mix it up as jealous goddesses -- the new Clash of the Titans is frightfully low on babes.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It's doubtful that records are kept about this sort of thing, but consider the possibility that Clash of the Titans is the first film to actually be made worse by being in 3-D.

San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli

No matter how you dissect it, Clash of the Titans will never, ever be a serious motion picture.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The film is a sham, with good actors going for the paycheck and using beards and heavy makeup to hide their shame.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Can't overcome mythic stupidity.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

What's wrong with this sad fiasco goes far beyond its visual deficits.

Washington Post Dan Kois

In striving for a combination of grit and grandeur, Leterrier misses a chance to make the kind of camp classic that could have endured for generations. Instead, it's a muddled disappointment.

Slate Dana Stevens

Clash seems to be deliberately steering clear of camp, when in fact it should have steered straight into camp and stepped on the gas.