Saturday, March 31, 2012

Wrath of the Titans 3D Review

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.”