Wrath Of The Titans

Released: 2012

Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson

Certificate: 12A

Reviewed By: Darryl Griffiths

It is hardly a secret that the remake of ‘Clash Of The Titans’ was an underwhelming cinematic experience that received a critical panning across the board. The fact that it didn’t actually contain any ‘titans’ most certainly grinded the gears of the old school faithful familiar, with its original interpretation from 1981. However, as this sequel shows, Warner Bros aren’t quite ready to stop sucking from the swords and sandals teet just yet. With Jonathan Liebesman now installed in the directorial hot seat, comes another action packed slice of mythology in the form of ‘Wrath’.

Fresh from his heroic triumph over the mighty Kraken, Sam Worthington returns as demi-God Perseus complete with a fair haired son Helius (John Bell) and a new horrific hairdo of his own. Just when he’s prepared for a more peaceful life, he is called back into action. It becomes knowledge to him, that mighty father Zeus (played by Liam Neeson) has been chained up and held captive by the backstabbing double act of Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez).

Conspiring against him and draining the powers originally bestowed upon Zeus in the process, they are ready to unleash lava soaked powerhouse Kronos out of his Tartarean prison to wreak havoc on the world. Relief for Perseus in his daunting quest comes in the form of stoic Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and son of Posiedon Agenor (Toby Kebbell, who is argubaly the film’s comic relief).

‘Wrath of The Titans’ in the production and action stakes, is a considerable step up from ‘Clash’. Heavily driven by special effects aplenty, it’s hard to fault how spectacular it looks especially in the latter stages. Liebesman’s direction however does sadly bring the quality levels down occasionally, with his frenetic camerawork approach that echoes recent work Battle: Los Angeles. The real problems didn’t exactly lie in this department for its predecessor. It was the stodgy storytelling and bland performances that proved a turn off.

Unfortunately, there’s no significant improvement here either. The reasonably assembled cast are left to battle with a cliche ridden and overblown script that’s full to the brim with dreadful dialogue. Hardly a surprising revelation, when five scriptwriters are on board..

Only the showings of Neeson and Fiennes prove to engage, with Worthington once again being completely devoid of personality or dimension as a lead protagonist. New additions to the cast prove to be mere ciphers, especially the painfully tacked on love interest of Pike and as much as i personally love Bill Nighy (Love Actually), the less i say about his character and the quite bizarre ‘accent’ he adopts the better.

With no past material to be judged against, you can’t help but feel that it’s an opportunity missed. Mildly entertaining when in ‘hack and slash’ mode with at least a more comprehensible plot at its core, ‘Wrath’ still doesn’t quite address enough previous flaws to be truly memorable.