When the remake of “Clash of the Titans” came out in 2010, I was a bit nervous. I am such a huge fan of the original, and it looked like they were going to completely transform it into a more modern entity.
That’s exactly what they did. The CGI and clay-mation used in the original was super cheesy, but it’s also what made it so memorable. I was not a fan of the 2010 version; it was different, and not in a good way.
However, “Wrath of the Titans” sets to explore new and uncharted territory for this “franchise.” With much of the 2010 cast signing on for this second effort and a few new faces, I thought maybe this sequel could be interesting. And with a new director, I thought it might at the very least be more visually effective than the first film.
“Wrath” follows the continued trials of the demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his father Zeus (Liam Neeson). Hades (Ralph Fiennes) suffered defeat at the end of the first film, and has returned to seek his revenge.
Hades joins hands with Ares (Edgar Ramirez), who is apparently the Greek god of war and terrible acting. The evil duo vow to destroy Zeus and consequently release the uber-bad god Kronos from the underworld to wreak havoc on earth.
Kronos is basically a culmination of Sauron from “The Lord of the Rings” and the marshmallow man from “Ghostbusters” if he were put in a huge microwave. But, they “released the kraken” and inevitably killed him off in the first film, so I guess they were a little short on huge bad guys to take the part.
With that being noted, “Wrath” did have good qualities visually. One scene that particularly impressed me was when Perseus and a few others are wandering through the labyrinth to gain access to Tartarus, the lowest point of the underworld and the walls begin to move.
As a viewer, it’s nice to get at least a little something for your money when paying the extra cash for a 3-D movie. If anything at all, that’s one thing I can say about this movie.
The 2010 film was screened in 3-D, but I don’t think it was meant to be one. With “Wrath,” it was easy to see that the director kept the concept in mind while creating the film.
Despite the stunning visuals, the story was very bland. I felt like I had already heard this story a handful of times. My favorite moment of the entire movie was getting to see some crazy guy engage in what he believes is a dialogue between himself and “Bubo,” the mechanical owl from the original film.
As the ending drew near, I didn’t really care if Perseus saved Zeus from his demise. If anything, I felt envious of Zeus for possibly getting to escape from any other offerings this franchise might “release” onto us.
The box office was not very kind to “Wrath,” but that’s what they get for deciding to release this film just two weeks after “The Hunger Games” came out. By the way, “The Hunger Games” made just under twice as much in its second weekend than this film did in its opening weekend.
Perseus has a little boy named Helius now, and I can only hope that this isn’t a main character in future “Titans” films. They aren’t very good to begin with, and generally that means they will only get worse as time goes on; so please, do us all a favor and stop.
