Cert 15, 100 mins, **
Rumour has it that director Tarsem Singh had to cut the violence out of his sword-and-sorcery epic. Even so, there are nasty moments in this story about Zeus engaging a peasant called Theseus to do something about wicked King Hyperion, who threatens to let loose the trapped Titans upon a peaceful world.
Henry Cavill plays Theseus staunchly, as befits a future Superman, and Mickey Rourke has fun as Hyperion, squeezing out people's eyes and slitting the throat of Theseus's mum in front of him. There's also Freida Pinto as a virgin oracle (don't laugh), Luke Evans as Zeus, and John Hurt giving one of his inimitably weary cameos as wise Old Zeus.
But it's not really the cast that matters. It's the painterly CG backgrounds that take the eye. This is what makes the film a good deal better than Clash of the Titans. It also gives the whole thing a slightly old-fashioned look. You feel that at any moment Steve Reeves might come bellowing around the corner - and that's no bad thing.
