Wrath of the Titans – Film Review

What did I just watch? No, seriously, it went by so fast I’m not entirely sure what I just watched.

K, well, a few years back I reviewed the remake of Clash of the Titans. I remember I so badly wanted to like the movie because it had actors I like in it and I’ve always been a big fan of fantasy and mythology, but from poor execution and pacing I realized I was trying to convince myself I was enjoying it, rather than actually enjoying it.

Fast forward to a few hours ago and I was sitting in a theatre, hoping for the best but hardly expecting it; what I wound up getting wasn’t a movie that I’d say was bad, but it wouldn’t fit my description of good either.

Plot
So, in case you missed the first episode: Zeus had a son with a mortal woman, his name is Perseus, Perseus is a demigod, he’s not really a big fan if the gods (Zeus, Poseidon and co.) some bad crap goes down, the Kraken gets released, Perseus is a hero the end.

Wrath of the titans picks up… some years later, we’re not really told how long exactly but Perseus now has a pre-teen/early teen son and his wife has died off-screen… yeah he married Io, but she sadly died of the fatal the-fans-wanted-Perseus-to-end-up-wth-Andromeda-plague, therefore costing us one of the only fully intriguing characters from the previous movie. Perseus is still bitter at the gods, the gods are losing their power, there’s a coupe going down to bring back Chronos, a titan who also happens to be Zeus, Poseidon and Hades’ father and is a big jerk-head; they don’t explain why, so if you want to know the actual reason you’ll have to do some research yourself, I suggest The Castration of Chronos, it’s pretty thorough… no pun intended.

So Perseus doesn’t want to fight anymore because he has a son but he decides to fight and goes on a romp with his cousin, the son of Poseidon, and Bill Nye as well as a now queen Andromeda who looks little to nothing like she did in the previous film.

Visual Effects
I remember Clash of the Titans was one of those movies where I really started getting irritated with other wannabe critics and the endless hate-on for CGI and how “it looks SO bad!” being the common complaint. Clash had great visual effects, and Wrath is no different. I would actually say it’s a safe assumption that more work went into the visuals than anything else. The mythological creatures look amazing and, with the exception of the occasional lava splot looking a little cartoony, environments and general effects looked great. The creatures looked like you could reach out and touch them, and no, thankfully this one didn’t have the “you only have to see it in 3D even though we didn’t film it in 3D!” nonsense.

Wardrobe and makeup was very well done, with the exception of the minotaur, it looked pretty awful; but hey it was only on screen for maybe 30 seconds so no loss there.

Sound
For the weak script that was provided, the acting was pretty well done. Emotions were appropriately conveyed, save the occasional over-acting parts from Sam Worthington, and a part that was downright laughable when a tense moment sees our heroes screaming “Perseus!” “Andromeda!” “Perseus!” “Son of Poseidon who doesn’t go by Percival so no one knows his name!” “Perseus!” “Father!” and so on.

The music is pretty good, nothing that really sticks in your head but it carries the atmosphere and stays true to what the audience would expect.

What I Liked
the visuals were great and the cast did the best with what they had to work with… oh and there was actually a titan in it this time around… that’s a… good start…

What I Would Change
More screen time with the creatures. Literally it was like “Wow a Chimera! That looks so- aww it’s dead.”, “Oh damn a tribe of Cyclops, they’re- aww they’re gone.”, “Wow! The minotaur! It looks awful but it’s cool that it’s at least- aww it’s dead.”, “Holy crap! Asura! That is such a creative take on this classic- aww it’s dead” you get it. Weak, rushed scripting made what could have been an incredible movie into little more than a popcorn flick.

Final Thoughts
I’m disappointed. I know I shouldn’t have been expecting much, and I don’t think I was, but I was hoping for something special. Again, by no means is it a bad movie, but it left me unsatisfied. If you’re looking for an easy-to-follow action adventure with cool visuals, then certainly catch this movie, but if you’re looking for something with a little more meat on the bones then pass this one by.