I love the idea of Pegasus. A flying horse. I think the concept is flawed, though.

If Pegasus were real he’d have to possess hollow bones. Imagine having your sky steed hit the scene when you needed it most only to jump on its back and shatter its spine and ribcage. Then you’re in a heap on the ground covered in feathers and horse tears while your enemies stab you with javelins until you are asleep.

Plus, if Pegasus were real it’d most likely sky shit. But they’re great in fictional movies!

Fun Fact: The first few years of my marriage were strained when every year at Christmas I’d sneak my Calibos action figure into Jesus’ spot in the Nativity manger on the table.

The new Calibos has a more interesting backstory and is much more proactive in scorpion creation (and he rips men in half), but his makeup design is garbage. And though I love Jason Flemyng, he doesn’t have the same swampy charisma of the original Calibos. No earrings. No laid-back blue tunic. No flickering tail and cloven hooves.

In short, a shadow of greatness.

But Ralph Fiennes with his eyes open wide (I think that was his internal acting decision for this film, ‘OPEN YOUR EYES WIDE AND SCARY, RALPH!‘) emerging from a plume of acrid black smoke without an invitation blows Maggie Smith to smithereens. Plus, he’s got little sightless hobgoblins that fly out of his smoke. What does she have? Nothing. No smoke at all.

Ralph creeps around this film with a receding hairline and a pet Kraken he just can’t wait to unload. And therefore he wins.

Medusa’s first menstruation must have been a learning experience. Might be why they called her ‘Ol Arthropod Pants’ in high school.

In the remake Medusa is the adversary in a long action sequence. At times it’s pretty cool (thanks in much part to Mads Mikkelson), but it’s a heavily stylized action sequence where arrows fly, people explode, stalagtites become stalagdidnt’s, and I yawn because there’s no tension or scariness like the original. It’s fine, but the Medusa design sucks and they should have known better.

That said, I had forgotten how neutered that dude is in the original film. He surfaces, checks some shit out, looks bewildered when Bubo flies around, and gets his shit rocked before he’s able to eat a woman whole. It’s great. It’s old school.

And it needed an update.

The new Kraken is massive. It seems to take up half the sea. Tentacles and limbs and sheaths and claws and a hateful little head that seems to be very into screaming. It smashes entire families, busts up pillars, and has designs on eating a woman with haste. It has more in common with what the Kraken of folklore represented. A force BEYOND US. Something that truly did not even comprehend humanity, like something out of H.P. Lovecraft’s daydreams.

This one is a world beater. The design is pretty cool, though we only see it in fragments. It’s well done and it gets to assault a lot of people before getting its shit rocked. But the staging of the scene doesn’t allow us to enjoy it enough. There’s a sort of annoying action scene involving Hades’ smokefart flying minions stealing Medusa’s head (which totally makes Perseus look like a little bitch) and him chasing them around town that diminishes the movie’s #1 villain and set piece, and it keeps us from enjoying the moment as much as we should have.

When Zeus utters his ‘Release the Kraken’ catchphrase the audience lost its ass in joy in the theater. I don’t think they were fully thrilled with the outcome.

Both Krakens don’t capitalize on their promise but they’re both cool enough for me to watch them over and over and want statues of them so I’ll take it. We can never have enough gigantic marauding monsters.

At the end of the day, these are both flawed films that I cannot help but support and find things to love about. The more the merrier I say!