Rated
PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Fantasy Violence and Action)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 39 Minutes
Cast-
Sam
Worthington-Perseus
Rosamund
Pike-Queen Andromeda
Toby
Kebbell-Agenor
Édgar
Ramírez-Ares
Bill
Nighy-Hephaestus
Ralph
Fiennes-Hades
Liam
Neeson-Zeus
Danny
Huston-Poseidon
John
Bell-Helius
Directed
by Jonathan Liebesman
 |
| Now where did I put that lightsaber... |
First
they released the KRAKEN…now it’s time to feel the WRATH! Released back in April
2010, director Louis Leterrier’s “Clash of the Titans,” a remake of the 1981 Ray
Harryhausen-produced film of the same name, did not enjoy the warmest of
critical receptions and single-handedly destroyed whatever good faith the
audience had in 3D with its god-awful conversion. As for myself, I am in
agreement that the 3D was terrible but I did
find the overall film to be an enjoyable action-adventure romp. With a
worldwide box office gross of $493 million, a sequel was a no-brainer and one
was green-lit almost immediately after the release of Leterrier’s film.
However, Leterrier stepped down as director to serve as executive producer and
was replaced with Jonathan Liebesman, who helmed the absolutely horrid “Battle:
Los Angeles” in 2011. While the original film had some semblance of
personality, “Wrath of the Titans” offers up none, lacking either a compelling narrative
or characters and instead favors loud, CG-driven action set-pieces that
ultimately feel dull and hollow. This is a sequel that exists solely because
its predecessor made money.
Taking place ten years after the events of the
first film, the demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) now leads a simple life as a
fisherman with his son, Helius (John Bell), from his recently deceased wife Io.
He is visited by his father, Zeus (Liam Neeson), who warns Perseus that the
god’s power are waning since the humans have stopped praying to them and that
they won’t be able to hold the walls of Tartarus for long. Perseus cannot bear
the thought of leaving his son and reluctantly declines Zeus’ offer for help.
Traveling to the gates of Tartarus with his brother Poseidon (Danny Huston) and
his son Ares (Édgar Ramírez), Zeus meets up with Hades (Ralph Fiennes) to ask
for his help. However, Ares is revealed to be working for Hades and attacks
both Zeus and Poseidon. To keep their immortality, Hades and Ares have made a
deal with the titan Kronos to drain Zeus’ power to revive him. Various demonic
creatures are released from the underworld, including a large Chimera which
begins attacking Perseus’ fishing village. Strapping on his old sword and
armor, he battles and manages to beat the Chimera but is severely wounded. Entrusting
the care of his son to his fellow villagers, Perseus and his winged steed
Pegasus travel to Queen Andromeda’s (Rosamund Pike) camp to ask her where he
can find Agenor, the demigod son of Poseidon. Before succumbing to his wounds,
Poseidon revealed to Perseus that his son is the only one able to locate the
mysterious being called the ‘Fallen One,’ who holds the key to defeating
Kronos. Agenor (Toby Kebbell) is actually a prisoner of Andromeda for trying to
steal the crown jewels and only agrees to help when he receives a full royal
pardon and his weight in gold. Together they set out to find this ‘Fallen One’
and free Zeus before Kronos breaks free from Tartarus to wreck havoc upon the
world.
“Wrath of the Titans” features a formulaic and paper-thin plot that
appears to have been hastily cobbled together in a single afternoon and is a
film made without any real energy or enthusiasm of any kind. Writers Dan Mazeau
and David Leslie Johnson fill the script with themes of sibling rivalry and the
search for a father’s approval, which are welcome ideas but they are never
afforded any screen-time to explore them in a satisfactory manner and function
as nothing more than window dressing for the film’s gargantuan action
set-pieces. More thought was put into planning
these action scenes with the story slapped on at the last-minute as an
afterthought and leaving all the characters devoid of any real personality.
They serve only to react to all the CG monstrosities they encounter along their
journey and much of the dialogue is often drowned out by the variety of chaos
that is happening on-screen. Nothing of importance is really said anyway so you
won’t miss much. “Wrath of the Titans” raises the stakes by having Perseus
fight for a better future for his son but the film never gives you a chance to
really care about what is happening to anyone, leaving it a dull and hollow
experience. Audiences will solely be interested in the action and while
visually impressive, it is just more of the same. The Kraken has now been
replaced with the mad titan Kronos, who is depicted to be a massive rock-like
monster that spews lava. Giant Cyclops’ and a fire-breathing Chimera also make
an appearance along with the famous Minotaur but his fight with Perseus
disappoints due to the excessive ‘shaky cam’ that Liebesman utilizes.
Fortunately, this is only limited to battles that involve two human combatants
but some of the larger set-pieces still suffer from seizure-like editing. The
only aspect that has been improved is
the 3D. This is another post-conversion but a lot more thought and preparation
certainly went into it compared to its predecessor, which suffered from
terrible motion blur. Liebesman frames his scenes to maximize his usage of 3D
with objects flying toward the screen and the aspect ratio even changes at one
point to create the effect of a snake-like monster’s jaws covering up the black
bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Seeing the camera zoom around the
massive prison of Tartarus is stunning and though the 3D devolves into little
more than a gimmick, it is at least used to its advantage.
Due to its
simplistic plot and overreliance on CG action, the cast resort to shouting all
their lines. Sam Worthington may be a popular actor but his range continues to
be limited as he spends the film either screaming in fury or in a constipated
grimace. Still, he makes for a credible action hero. Replacing Alexa Davalos as
Andromeda is Rosamund Pike but her inclusion seems to be just an excuse to have
a female co-star as she does little other than swing a sword. Toby Kebbell
serves as comic relief while Édgar Ramírez actually makes for a menacing god of
war. Bill Nighy also makes an appearance as Hephaestus and continues his shtick
of emphasizing every other word. Finally, there’s Liam Neeson and Ralph
Fiennes, the only actors who come out of this film with their dignities
unscathed.
“Wrath of the Titans” was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on March
30, 2012 to overwhelmingly negative reviews with 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. I may
have liked the first film but this time I’m inclined to agree with the critics,
who found the 3D effects ‘an improvement over its predecessor's, but in nearly
every other respect [the film] fails to improve upon the stilted acting, wooden
dialogue, and chaos-driven plot of the franchise's first installment.’ Audience
attendance was middling and the film is looking to finish the weekend behind
“The Hunger Games” with $30 to $35 million, a far cry from its predecessor’s
$61.2 million. If I was younger, I would’ve loved “Wrath of the Titans” but now
I’m older and a bit more discerning about my taste in film. Thanks to the
almost non-stop action, this sequel is never boring nor is it an outright
terrible film but it ultimately leaves you feeling hollow inside.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
“You
will learn someday that being half human, makes you stronger than a god.”
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