Wrath of the Titans Review
Set about ten years after the events of Clash of the Titans, Wrath picks up with demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington), having shunned his demigod status and choosing to live a normal life, working as a fisherman and raising his son, Helius. There isn’t much mention of Io, his wife, aside from the fact that she died, but Perseus trudges on trying to raise his son away from the shadow of the gods.
Perseus gets a visit from his father Zeus (Liam Neeson), who tells him that because mortals have stopped praying to the gods, they’re losing their power. The lack of belief is creating a chain reaction, which results in the weakening of Tartarus, the underground / underworld prison where the gods sent the titans. It’s kind of like Azkaban, but without the Dementors. Anyway, Zeus asks for Persues’ help, which he refuses. Shortly after, Zeus is captured by his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes), and his other son, Ares (Edgar Ramirez) so that they can transfer Zeus’ power to resurrect Kronos, father to Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. With me so far?
Once Perseus hears of Zeus’ abduction, and sees what’s in store for the world, he dons his battle-gear and sets out to take care of business. Aided by Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), and Poseidon’s demigod son Agenor (Toby Kebbell), the trio set out to infiltrate Tartarus, save Zeus, and defeat the Titans before they bring about the destruction of the world.
Growing up, I was, and still am a huge fan of the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans. I’ve given up any attempt at trying to figure out just how many times I’ve sat through that version because I watched it pretty much every time it was on. When word came down that Hollywood was remaking it, I was wholeheartedly against it. Once I saw the trailers, I figured I’d give it a chance. I watched it when it was released on DVD and barely made it through the whole thing. It was complete, utter garbage and I hated every second of it. Then the sequel happened and my thought was that there was no way on God’s green Earth that it could be worse than Clash, but still thought it would be crap, but maybe just not as bad. I guess you could say that I had pessimistic, cynically optimistic views on this film.
My first thought was that this movie stars Sam Worthington and co-stars his luxurious mane of hair. Seriously, the man has a great head of hair. I don’t know what it is about him, but even though his acting can be rather wooden, I still really like him for some reason. I’m holding out hope that he’s going to get that one breakthrough performance that will earn him praise from the haters but not surprisingly, this is not that role. This time around Perseus is supposed to show a bit more emotion, but sadly that didn’t come through too well at all. He’s great with the action and anger, but the quieter moments lack that emotional connection.
Fiennes and Neeson seems to have a bit more to do this time around as they work out their sibling rivalry. Both are solid actors in their own right and even though Zeus isn’t outfitted in his ridiculously distracting shiny armor this time, it was nice to see the both of them used a bit more effectively. Pike has a good showing as the strong female of group exhibiting no fear and proving that she can handle herself just as good or better than the men who surround her. Bill Nighy does a stellar job as Hephaestus and is probably the second best character of the lot. The standout performance here, at least for me, goes to Toby Kebbell’s portrayal of Agenor. This character is what I enjoyed the most and Kebbell played it perfectly. In what could have easily been the cheesiest of characters, Kebbell turned the stiff dialogue and borderline questionable comedy into something that can truly be appreciated.
The film moves at a pretty brisk clip, which considering it’s 99 minute run-time shouldn’t have been hard to do. Believe me, it could have been dismal, but the action kept things interesting so one wasn’t tempted to look at their watch. While the action was decent, there were some aspects of the visual effects that left something to be desired. Kronos looked pretty good as did the Chimera and Makhai. The Minotaur I barely remember, but the Cyclops were great. Pegasus looked decent although some of the in-flights scenes not so much. The worst part of the filming was the use of the shaky-cam effect. I have a real issue with this because it can make it very hard for me to watch but those who aren’t bothered will probably not even notice. Whether or not this film is worthy of its 3D ticket price, I can’t really say. I normally avoid 3D films like the plague because I find that the return on investment just isn’t there. When a 3D movie takes me out to dinner and does my laundry, then I’ll pay the ridiculous ticket price.
There is nothing surprising or mind-blowing about this film, but then again, I think those that see it aren’t expecting the next Lawrence of Arabia. It may not win any awards but it did achieve what it’s predecessor couldn’t. Entertainment. I actually enjoyed this one, where the only thing I felt for Clash was contempt. Fans of the first installment will most likely enjoy this film as well, and those that didn’t may be surprised. I know I was. I really think the buck needs to stop here though. Please please please, do not green-light a third film. The world doesn’t need it.
Tags: Andromeda, Bill Nighy, Hades, Liam Neeson, Pegasus, Perseus, Poseidon, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Sam Worthington, Toby Kebbell, Wrath of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans Review, Zeus
