WRATH OF THE TITANS

WRATH OF THE TITANS (2012)
US
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

CAST:
Sam Worthington - Perseus
Liam Neeson - Zeus
Ralph Fiennes - Hades

PLOT:
     Perseus embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, who has been targeted for capture by his traitorous son, Ares, and his brother, Hades who are working with Zeus' father.

REVIEW:
     When Clash Of The Titans was remade, I was kinda excited to see it. Needless to say the disappointment was there at the end of the movie. It had a great set-up, yet lousy follow through with some interesting set pieces thrown in. To bad Mads Mikkelsen's character Draco didn't survive to be in this one as he was one of the few things good with the remake. The 3D in that one also didn't help the movie. Well two years later the sequel to the remake is out and here I go with the review for it. I have to say first that I love Greek mythology and the family dysfunction and constant in-fighting trying to top one another and the complete disregard for the people that pray to them as it is ripe to be plundered for film and story, yet it seems as if no one really knows how to do it truly right.

     Sam Worthington isn't going to win any Oscars anytime soon, but I can say he knows what he's good at playing. As Steven Seagal and Arnold Schwarzenegger were action icons in the 80's, Worthington can easily be considered one for this new generation of film goers. I will say that he has improved since the remake, and can actually show some real emotions in this one unlike the previous one. Liam Neeson reprises his role as Zeus from Clash Of The Titans as does Ralph Fiennes as Hades. I really like both actors as they know how to act, sadly in this most of the time I really felt like they were going through the emotions rather than really trying. Thankfully toward the end of the movie when they could in character go out and have fun their expressions show that they are finally having fun for a change, even at the end after everything is done and each one has their final words. And it seems like in each movie one actor steals the movie. In Clash it was Mads, as I mentioned before, and in this one it is Bill Nighy as the god Hephaestus, the creator of the Tartarus and the labyrinth that protects it. Nighy is just fun as he knows his role isn't the biggest in the movie, yet to me he just comes in and sweeps all the other actors to the side as all attention is on him as he chews the scenery around him, even with Bubo in the scene. Which I got a good laugh out of by the way, and also the fact the filmmakers put this nod in to the original Clash.

     One of the things most people complained about the remake of Clash for was the use of post-conversion 3D they used. Thankfully that problem is fixed in Wrath, although it's not the best use of the technology I've seen. Some scenes are really well done in 3D, such as when we see Cronos move his arms and pieces fly from them as well as lava flowing off. I will say that the 3D did piss me off at one point. That scene took place in Perseus' village when it is attacked by a hell hound, which is a dog like being with two heads and a snake like head as a tail that can can hiss and bite. Now that I set up the creature, the scene is it was running ramshod through the village killing people and destroying humble abodes as it goes. Once Perseus has the creature somewhat contained the tail comes into play. Now that part didn't piss me off, what did is when the full screen all of a sudden went to a widescreen format. You know the type. Black bars on the top and bottom. And then the snake tail tries to bite Perseus and we're giving a view of the snake-tail lunging forward. Which in turn is set to go out of the viewable picture frame, and guess what, the damn snakey thing is shown over the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Great way to take a person out of a film by doing that as you ruin what your eyes were used to seeing. What's even worse is that right after that the screen goes back to full screen. I was not a happy camper due to that. Film is supposed to suck you in and make you forget you're in a theater, not make you remember that after only fifteen minutes in.

     Director Jonathan Liebesman did both good and bad in this film. The good is that he knows how to pace a movie to keep things moving, sometimes at a breakneck pace as the story is always moving toward a goal. Speaking of story, this movie has a major father issues as that is the key to the whole story. From Kronos coming for his son Zeus, to Zeus giving all to save his son Perseus, everything revolves around family and fighting for them. Now the bad Liebesman did in the movie. He mistakes a moving camera, shaking and up close for dynamic footage, which in return makes the action skewed and hard to follow at times. The perfect example of this is the minotaur fight. The action is hidden for most of the fight and the only steady shot during the whole confrontation is close ups of the beast and close ups of Perseus. I will say the special effect are actually very well done throughout when you can see them for an extended period of time. One thing the story could have done better though is include more of the children of the gods, as for this film not only do we get Perseus, but we also get Toby Kebbell who plays Poseidon's son Agenor, which actually helped the story. And they even eluded to Rosemund Pike's Queen Andromeda being a demi-god as well. Yet the story turned sour with the end as it felt like the writers didn't know what to do, so they put a whole bunch of cheering which just felt forced and tacked on. I will say that Wrath Of The Titans is much better than the Clash remake, yet no where near what it could have been with the rich mythology to pick and choose from.

BEST DEATH:
      Kronos wiping out an entire city with the wave of his arm.

BEST LINE:
     I am great.

FUN FACTS:
     Javier Bardem was considered for the role of Ares, though role went to Edgar Ramirez in the end.

     Director Jonathan Liebesman's last movie he directed was Battle: Los Angeles.

     Sam Worthington, who was a finalist to play James Bond before Daniel Craig was cast, has blurred vision.