Review No.107: Wrath of the Titans

My abiding memory of the 2010 version of Clash of the Titans wasn't anything about the film, which I've completely forgotten about, but rather comments that director Louis Leterrier made about his film being retro-fitted into 3D saying that he'd imagined some of the scenes in 3D so he was glad that the process took place. Suffice to say that Leterrier hasn't been invited back to direct the sequel instead it is up to Battle: Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman to do the best he can helming a follow-up to a film that nobody can recall. Sam Worthington's Perseus is back and having defeated the Cracken is now living the simple life which seems to involve fishing and looking after his 10 year old son Heleus. However when Perseus' brother Ares betrays their father Zeus to team up with evil uncle Hades he is forced into action once more as the deadly duo have broken the walls of Tatarus letting in all manner of beasties. Perseus gets a gang together include Rosamund Pike's hot warrior queen Andromeda, Toby Kebbel's jokey cockney sidekick Agenor and Bill Nighy's Northern blacksmith Hephaestes. Together they journey through Nighy's labyrinth eventually meeting up with Ares who tries to murder all of them however he is outwitted by the 10 year old boy and slain by his brother. In the meantime Zeus and Hades have made amends and team up to take on their newly awoken father Kronos whose army is slowly demolishing that of Andromeda however once again Perseus saves the day with one big mighty weapon thingy that he uses to slay his grandad, what a hero!

I have to say I don't think anybody really wanted a sequel to the 2010 version of Clash however too many people went to see it for the studio not to cash-in and make this follow-up. Wrath does have the same problem as Clash namely a wooden leading man in Sam Worthington who seems to change this Greek God into a growling Australian bore sharing little chemistry with his supposed romantic interest Pike or indeed his on-screen son. I wasn't bowled over by the effects as by the end of the film every minotaur, Cyclopes and Chimera all moulded into one big CGI blur. Thankfully what Wrath does have going for it is a sense of fun and at just under 90 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome in the way that John Carter did. Central to this entertainment is Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson who both seem to be having a ball as Hades and Zeus respectively each trying to outdo the others growly voice before teaming up at the end to share some giggles it was as if I was eavesdropping on a rather drunken encounter at the Schindler's List after-party. To add this entertainment both, especially Neeson, look completely ridiculous as the Taken star is done up to resemble a dishevelled department store Santa Claus. Of the supporting cast both Kebbel and Nighy also seem to have fun with their roles and I felt what the first film lacked was a lighter element which the former brings which is a breath of fresh air against the dour Worthington. At the end of the day though, despite the fun performances, there's no getting away from the fact that this was a film that was made purely by committee with the sole aim to make as much money as possible which I believe it already has done. The fact that the final scene between Perseus and Heleus sets up a potential third film in the franchise leaves me with a sense of dread and let's hope that Titans Won't Outstay Their Welcome by making Wrath the last film in this underwhelming reboot.

Verdict: Some fun performances make this film better than the original however it is still an empty money-making endeavour with some unimpressive CGI so for that reason I will award it only 4.5/10