Here's the deal: I am an absolute snotty brat when it comes to Greek legends.
I'm a person who like to get things as right and as accurate as possible. Hercules did the twelve pillars. Achilles fought in the Trojan War, Jason sailed with the Argonauts and Theseus slew the Minotaur. While I understand the need to mix and match some stories to make them interesting, any form of inaccuracy feels like an itch to me. In the legend of Perseus, the son of Zeus, he saved
So when Hollywood decided to release Clash of The Titans a couple of years ago, I went in with a very critical pair of eyes. While the quality of the cinematography was good and the actors did deliver (it's got Liam Neeson it it, for crying out loud), I can't say much for the storyline. Not only that there wasn't a single Titan in any part of the movie, but they got the obvious mythology wrong. Perseus, son of Zeus, had saved Andromeda from certain sacrifice, but in the movie, he chose the immortal seer, Io, instead of marrying the princess. That is like watching Tutankhamun grown into a 70-year-old man. It's JUST SO WRONG!
This is Sparta...!!!! Oh sorry, wrong movie |
Really, the more I read the last sentence, the more I feel like this is one messed-up family drama on a large scale.
Is that you, Dad? |
"I think I just saw the Black Pearl zooming up ahead" |
Just a small shoutout to my favourite actors, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. They did really well, though it still irks me that Hollywood seemed to be determined to make Hades a villain almost every time. If you read the myths, he's probably one of the better gods, despite his job of governing the dead. At least he doesn't sleep around and sire fifty dozen illegitimate children all over the place like his brothers and nephews.
My advice to future filmmakers who decide to adapt something from ancient mythology- READ IT UP. I know it can be a challenge to your creative urges to follow everything by the book, but there's a way around it. After all, you get most of the facts right if it was an autobiography of someone who actually existed. Just because those gods and heroes can't sue you doesn't mean you can mess their lives up even worse than it already is.