Hollywood Dollars and Sense....not making sense to me

As a kid there were few movies that really stoked the fire of my imagination. We were at an age that was brimming with adventure and ideas and we didn't need a movie to grow the flames. I can probably count the most magical movies on one hand.

Star Wars, Cloak and Dagger, Nate and Hayes, Indiana Jones, and Clash of the Titans.

Oh yes....the great Clash of the Titans. It had a sweeping story pulled from Greek mythology. It had the ability to take an already active imagination into an entirely different world and realm. The special effects were pretty cool for the time but they only played a secondary role to Perseus and his quest to save Mycenae from the Titans.



I distinctly remember the first time I watched the movie. I was at the Oldham's and we were playing outside, likely constructing the landscape for our next GI Joe battle sequence. Some of the older siblings raced inside with a VHS tape of the movie. Like Lemmings we followed the commotion. Fortunately, we were allowed to stay and partake of this cinematic manna. I was captivated and amazed. I would have to imagine that this was what Steven Spielberg felt when he was inspired to enter the trade.

Fast forward to the present day....

Like many, I had great anticipation for the release of the newest version of this epic tale. If nothing else, to see if it could capture the adventure and whimsy of the original. My love for Greek mythology has grown over the years and I am always interested to see how Hollywood interprets these stories. So with a free afternoon I joined the lines of octogenarians and waited for my own matinee marvel.

I waited...and I waited. All I got were over the top special effects, an actor who did a horrible job of portraying a great hero, no emotional connection being made, and a realization that this movie was probably nothing more than a studio cash grab. My imagination wasn't taken anywhere except to the sterile blue room that created the unimaginative creatures, sets, and back drop. There was no magic, no sense of epic adventure.

As I look at the slate of movies due out this summer all I see is more "Titan" sized disappointment. Hollywood has learned that there is big money to be made in dredging up some of the great entertainment brands of the past. GI Joe and Transformers go from being wonderful vehicles of imagination to coldly calculated machines of profit and nothing more. No fear, you only need to fool all of us once to create a blockbuster. None of these remakes, even A-Team, will be nothing more than half hearted ploys to pull at our nostalgic heart strings and extract a few extra bucks from our wallets. And that really sucks.

So I'm going to restrain from spending $10 at the movies this summer. At that price it shouldn't be too hard to do. The current Hollywood formula is trite and tired. I would rather save my money and plug in the originals. I get the magic of the first run and I don't have to spend $7.50 for a Diet Coke.