releasing this week: Clash of the Titans, Remember Me and Kick-Ass

I know I mentioned Kick-Ass last week but officially it released on Wednesday 31st March so I just wanted to highlight it again; it really is a good fun film. I posted my review of Kick-Ass already, so you can read it here.

But on to the films that really are releasing on Friday… there’s only 3 and the two I’m highlighting are Clash of the Titans and Remember Me.

Clash of the Titans is the big epic action film for the week. It’s a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. That film was stop-motion animated by the legend Ray Harryhausen. The story is based on the Greek mythological stories of Perseus, and Andromeda. It doesn’t exactly follow those myths but hey, who cares when you’ve got giant monsters right?

The original Clash of the Titans it was actually the last feature film Harryhausen animated. It’s kind of ironic, the reason Clash of the Titans was the last film Harryhausen made was because new special effects techniques pushed out his brand of stop-motion and he couldn’t get the follow up made. This version is being held up as a great example of CGI today. I just thought that was funny is all. Anyway I’ve already seen this one and I don’t want to turn this into a review (which I’ll get around to writing when I finally finish my Shutter Island review). Suffice to say the story is classic, the action is epic and the effects are shiny so if you’re looking for a big ol’ action film this Easter, go for it.

Special mention as well for Trailer 1 on apple.com/trailers. Great use of music, really gets you ramped up for it. Impressive.

Oh actually one thing I will mention. As you may or may not know, this is being released in 3D and 2D. It was rushed into 3D when they saw how successful Avatar was. I saw this in 3D so I can tell you, it’s not really worth it. The 3D is ok but, as is often the case, the 3D glasses make the picture a bit darker and I don’t think it’s worth the trade off here. Save your money.

Remember Me is Robert Pattinson’s attempt to put a little distance between himself and the Twilight franchise before it comes to an end later this year…

Ah that’s probably not really very fair of me. I’ve never seen any of the Twilight films so I don’t really want to slag them off. I just imagine that Mr. Pattinson would be quite keen to have a long career as an actor and not be consigned to playing vampires for the rest of his days. To that end he’s taken on this role of Tyler, an angry young man who meets Ally, a girl suffering from the trauma of seeing her mother murdered.

Remember Me sounds like a romantic drama made to appeal to the female 15-45 demographic. Romance tinged with tragedy, if there weren’t two Nicholas Sparks films coming out this year I’d say this could be top contender for that genre this year. Which is not to say it’s going to be a bad film. I hope it’s not, it actually sounds kind of interesting to me… what with being smack in the middle of that target audience.

I have no idea if this actually is a good film but it’s definitely sounds like a strong weepie, so if you’ve already seen and loved The Blind Side this is the film for you.

Other films this week…

How To Train Your Dragon – Mentioned this last week because the previews started last Friday but it’s only got it’s full release this week. Kids film from Dreamworks, creators of the Shrek and Madagascar movies, as well as Kung Fu Panda. I gather it’s great fun, has a very cute dragon apparently. I probably won’t but if you’re looking for a kids film this weekend I’m sure you could do worse.

Samson and Delilah – Australian drama about a young couple in love, yearning to escape their remote Aboriginal community. Winner of the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Limited release so you’ll only catch it in Dublin in the IFI, Lighthouse cinema Smithfield and The Screen on D’olier street.

Kick-Ass, Clash of the Titans, Remember Me, How To Train Your Dragon and Samson and Delilah are in cinemas today, Friday 2nd April. (I really should have got this article out sooner)…