Movie Review #21 Wrath of the Titans (2012)

- a sequel to a remade movie

Not that I'm inherently against remakes but I certainly didn't think this particular film was going to impress me much since the remake of Clash of the Titans was so poor in so many ways. What was up with the blindingly poor love interest angle shoved into the movie anyway? No, if you enjoyed the remake of Clash, it probably had to do with the computer generated creatures or maybe you just really like screaming “unleash the kraken” at appropriate and inappropriate times.

Wrath isn't really so far disconnected from the remake of Clash. But with a few minor tweaks, it really makes a better attempt at the general fantasy action flick. The movie opens with a scene some 10 years later, in which our hero Perseus (a role reprised by Sam Worthington) has a son and he's doing the whole “I don't use a sword anymore I'm a good person” shtick (which everyone under the sun knows won't last; in fact, he'll do it and be an even better person since he'll actually be saving people instead of just saying his usual morning hello to his neighbour) – but I digress. Of course, no sooner than that thought crossed your mind, then snap, our hero's village is in peril! The movie makes an attempt at a story I'm sure, but for the most part it's just words, no character really takes any notice of anything said. Anyway back to the city being destroyed, there is a giant chimera running rampant and Perseus, his son Helios (played by John Bell) and any other person who had face time is getting wrecked. Perseus picks up his sword and the rest of the movie save some poorly-written obviously bland scenes (the war room scene, and the entire setup to the maze into the underworld, which seems obvious). The action is fine for a fantasy movie and similar to the first. I also enjoyed the CGI. The shining quality of this movie over the first is that there is no obvious band of heroes that will get killed one by one in order for our hero to realize he is one, and there is no forced romance for our hero so we can see empathy from him. Well there is some, but I feel as if most of it hit the cutting room floor. Zeus just comes down, tells him “Son go here, get this, kill that guy and oh yes I'm a terrible father but I'm trying now, promise”. Plain run of the mill action which is certainly a lot better than the smörgåsbord that was the first remake.

The acting is fine enough for what it is, I suspect Liam Neeson (Zeus) and Ralph Fiennes (Hades) couldn't have given better delivery due to the lines they were given so I suspect credit is due to them. Ralph is pretty darn creepy so seeing him as the king of the underworld is believable as I suspect he really is anyway – totally in a good way though. Rosamund Pike also stars in the movie, I can't say I really paid any attention to her character as unfortunately she isn't really that interesting to the story, but she can swing a mean sword and I like a girl who can defend herself something fierce. Lastly we have Sam Worthington, I feel he could really pull off the whole action star gimmick but he hasn't really been put in a blockbuster action movie where he is the star. Even in this movie, since he's dealing with actors like Liam Neeson and Ralph Finnes, people are going to want to see them and not him. If he's going to make it as an action star (I can't really see him diving into the comedy-drama scene, can you?) he needs to do an action series where he leads, is the main star and beats up some gun-runners or Russian spies or maybe some arctic Eco-terrorists.

Reach out and touch somebody.

I find myself mostly unable to stop comparing this to the first remake more than anything else, and without a doubt it is better than the first one so with that if you liked the first one, I think this one will be more pleasing to you. However, if like me you only tolerated the first movie, at best you might enjoy parts of this movie more than the entirety of the first movie.

I give it a 7/10

PS: Who wouldn't watch a buddy cop movie with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes!