Review by Mike DeVivo
Review Score: 6.5/10
Going into Wrath of The Titans I was very excited. The trailers had me invested in the awesome Monsters and Special Effects and I liked that they were going to make a movie that was still in this world allowing them to tell a new story .
After a small voice over by Zeus played once again by Liam Neeson we are transported to a small fishing town where Perseus (Sam Worthington) now takes care of his son after the death of his wife. Life’s simple now for Perseus until he is visited by Zeus who asks for his help . Since the events of the last film humans have stopped praying to the Gods. This in turn has Weakened the Gods and marks the Return of The Mad Titan Kronos who is the Father of Both Zeus and Hades. Perseus still defiant of his Father Zeus refuses leaving Zeus to go into Tartarus to ask help from his brother Hades.Hades as well as Ares turn on Zeus and Poseidon and plan to drain Zeus’s powers to release Kronos once again in exchange for Immortality. Poseidon makes it out alive just long enough to tell Perseus that his father has been taken and Perseus finally decides to fight again to save Zeus and all of humanity.
That’s pretty much everything they set up story wise. The total running time of the film is 99 minutes which gives you very little time to establish the multitude of new characters they introduce. I will say that all of the new additions were mostly welcomed . Bill Nighy being my favorite of the bunch . He plays the crazy God Hepheastus who forged the weapons of the Gods. He mixes a great deal of humor and weight to every scene he’s in and is genuinely having fun in his role. Toby Kebell and Edgar Ramirez are both great in their roles as Agenor Son of Poseidon and Ares son of Zeus. Ares in particular was a nice surprise since there was very little shown with him in the trailers. He’s the right mix of Evil and childish rage that works . I wish I could say the same for the Creatures and Mythological Beasties in the film but unfortunately Wrath falls into that unfortunate territory where the Studio throws every bad ass scene at you in the trailers and ruined any sense of surprise and fun in the process. There are some great scenes here and there but it does become disappointing when you realize there wasn’t much left for you outside of the first 2 min trailer.Special Effects are spotty at times. Most of the Creature work is great but there are times especially with certain death scenes that I was left scratching my head at how terrible the CG execution was. Rosamund Pike who plays Andromeda also underwhelms in the main female lead role. She doesn’t feel genuine as a character and ends up being nothing more than eye candy with no real story of her own . In a day and age where there are so many strong female characters in films it makes little sense to bring an underdeveloped character into the movie and expect us as viewers to care .
Surprisingly there is decent character development with the supporting characters and towards the end of the film it seems like this film is more about the relationship between Hades and Zeus . This again would have worked great if Perseus was more involved in the story of his father and brother but ultimately Sam Worthington goes through the motions during the movie. Each Action set piece is an excuse for him to yell something and then get tackled , and thrown repeatedly . It would actually make a great drinking game for you and a couple of friends when it comes out on Blu-Ray. Every time Perseus is Tackled and or thrown you have to take a shot and I guarantee you and your friends would be all kinds of drunk with the amount of bumps , kicks , slams , and tackles Perseus receives. It becomes comical at a certain point. He essentially is a human Bowling pin in this film.
I wish I could tell you that I loved this film but I found myself only liking it slightly . The Monsters and set pieces are great but with a short running time and the studio blowing its wad in the trailer your left wanting more at the end of the film. With so many movies coming out this Summer I have to recommend that you wait to see this when it comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD, like I said it will make for one of the funnest drinking experiences of your life just not the best movie going experience.
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