Film Reviews

Wrath of The Titans

• Rating:
• Director: Jonathan Liebesman
• Starring: Bill Nighy
• Details: USA/TBC TBC

While certainly bettering the often inept 2010 production, this bigger budgeted sequel has some stunning visuals and a suitably manly Sam Worthington in the lead role; but the exchanges often play like Ray Harryhausen filtered through Fair City.
Worthington's Perseus has been chilling out for the past decade or so, having decided to concentrate on raising his son and living a simple life as a fisherman - rather than party/war it up as a demigod. When his aul' lad Zeus (a typically commanding Liam Neeson) turns up and asks for his help to defeat pissed off sibling, Hades (Fiennes), Perseus turns him down saying his promised his perished other half he'd never leave their offspring. But soon enough duty calls and he's wielding an extendable pitchfork like a boss.
After a muddled, slightly awkward opening, Wrath of the Titans soon shifts a gear upwards into enjoyable territory. In fairness, Perseus does very little soul searching and even then he's forced into battle; but when he does, 'Wrath' is an awful lot of fun. Problems arise when new characters are introduced; Pike is essentially a leather skirt with limbs, and Ramirez's Ares a missed opportunity for a villain with substance. Instead, he's reduced to looking all broody, with very little in the way of context given to his perpetually pissed sibling of Worthington's Perseus - other than Daddy giving more attention to one than the other. Yes, that old chestnut.
Worthington is a stellar lead, even if even he doesn't have much to do outside of the action either. But the film really comes into its own in the final third when there's a barrage of action in Hades' demonic layer. The CGI rendering is nothing short of superb, and the scale fully realised when the action moves back to above ground level and a mass of human fatalities take place. It really is an apocalyptic nightmare realised; but the 3D, while much better than the awful 'added in post' version of last time, is not really needed.
A big, dumb stupid action film that also happens to be a lot of fun in parts.