Title: Wrath of the Titans
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell, Bill Nighy
Although it’s a brisk and flawed 99 minutes, most blockbuster-seeking audiences will feel fulfilled with Wrath of the Titans.
The sequel to the mediocre 2010 remake of the treasured Clash of the Titans, actually improves on just about every level. Epic action sequences showcasing the power of the gods to mythological creatures ruthlessly attacking mankind is choreographed seamlessly via top-notch CGI. And more importantly, the lens captures everything in a comfortable manner for the viewer to take in.
Now while the delivery, or articulation, of the story is barely passable, you’ll at least understand what is going on and why characters are doing what they do. But perhaps it is a bit too chatty in the first-half. It would have been nice, and definitely more emotional, if the filmmakers extended this by 15-20 minutes in order to project a more engaging storyline through the dialogue; because unless Liam Neeson (Zeus) and/or Ralph Fiennes (Hades) – who have extended roles in this installment – are talking, the dialogue streamed through a mumbling Sam Worthington (reprising the Perseus character) and out-of-place Rosamund Pike (Andromeda) comes across very “rough draft” like.
In addition to giving the god characters more things to do in this piece – mainly through a brooding Edgar Ramirez (the god of war, Ares) – this script does inject subtle amounts of comedy through another demi-god in Toby Kebbell (son of Poseidon). Kebbell brings a charming “Captain Jack Sparrow” like presence that although used sparingly, balances out the tone of this fantasy/action saga. Playing along nicely with those elements are the massive set pieces – mainly CGI – that provide that escapism feeling. In Clash of the Titans, the atmosphere seemed too cardboard and uniform. This time around, every encounter the small contingent of humans and/or demi-gods come face-to-face with, feels as if one is entering a new realm of sorts; and these said realms portray an attitude of something between The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings trilogies.
Since this story follows both the human and gods’ perspective, multiple environments are explored and each viewpoint if you will includes a steady dose of unique action. But again, as stated, there is some crappy storytelling still taking place within the dialoge.
Without giving too much away, the gist of the plot is preventing the resurrection of the gods’ father/creator, Kronos. The monstrous Titan has been held captive by Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. However, the world has stopped praying to the gods, and because of this act, they begin to lose their powers and can no longer keep their angry daddy – who is about the size of a mountain – contained. So it falls on Perseus, now a father himself, to rekindle his raging spirit to assist the gods in taking down a nemesis that will devour all the lands.
For all the fanboys, and girls, out there…this fantasy tale delivers the goods with regards to the climatic ending battle. Remember how a couple of the X-Men sequels kind of took away the focus of displaying the respective characters superpowers? Or how in Lord of the Rings, we all kind of wanted to see what would happen if Sauron actually came to life and battled it out with the fellowship? Well, this is your wet-dream scenario. It’s not perfect experience, but it is very generous one that should please you.
Overall, Wrath of the Titans trumps the remake of Clash of the Titans. Though the script fails to capture and project the richness of the storyline, the supporting players along with just enough eye-gasmic action sequences – which benefit from the scope of the 3D gimmick – answer your movie-going prayers for a sequel production that does not go all to hell.
Technical: A
Story: C
Acting: C
Overall: C+
