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Friday, March 30, 2012

Wrath Of The Titans - Review


Wrath of the Titans
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I saw this movie in 3D, as I stated in my previous review of John Carter, this is not my favorite format. I find most 3D a distracting gimmick. As a kid I recall watching Jason and the Argonauts with and addictive fascination. It's awful special effects were 'state of the art' for their time and we ate it up. If only they had had the luxury of the CGI effects of today. I was a big fan of the genre. That said let's get to reviewing the current movie at hand.
 Official trailer #1
Official trailer #2
There are a lot of people with impressive credentials involved in the making of this film."Wrath of the Titans" reunited several talents from the previous film, including Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis ("The Dark Knight"); Oscar®-nominated prosthetics supervisor Conor O'Sullivan ("The Dark Knight," "Saving Private Ryan"); and Academy Award®-winning special effects and animatronics supervisor Neil Corbould ("Gladiator").

Sadly most of it is wasted. Unless you are a hardcore, diehard fan of the series you will likely be unimpressed...at least in a positive way. The followup to Clash Of The Titans, itself a mediocre film, hasn't done much of anything to improve the franchise. The 3D effects were as weak as the acting, certainly not worth the $5 or $6 surcharge. The best effect probably the falling ash, not so good for a 3D action film. 

This is not Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes nor Sam Worthington's finest moment.
Of course it's not so easy to sound like you are not reading a script when the script you have been handed is so lifeless and dull. It seemed like half of the dialogue was spent with characters addressing each other directly so that the audience would know who every one is, "Hello, Poseidon! You are god of the sea!" The grand villain of the film Kronos, King of the Gods, would better be titled as Kronos, the CGI God of Magma.

We are brothers but not equals 
 
The best recommendation I can make about this film is that you are not subjected to and hour and a half of profanity and nudity.

Here is the quick rundown of the storyline:
Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson star once again as gods at war in "Wrath of the Titans," under the direction of Jonathan Liebesman.
A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, we find Perseus (Worthington) the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson) attempting to live quietly as a village fisherman and single dad to his 10-year-old son, Helius.
Meanwhile a treacherous struggle for supremacy has erupted, unbeknownst to Perseus, between the gods that will come to threaten his idyllic life. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing hold of their immortality, as well as control over the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades (Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston). Long ago the  triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father, leaving him to rot in Tartarus. the gloomy abyss of a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous Underworld. Now, Perseus cannot ignore his true calling as Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramirez), switches loyalties and makes a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titan's strength grows as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned... and hell, personified by the double torsoed Makhai (and ultimately the God of Magma), is unleashed on the hapless inhabitants of earth.
Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon's demigod son Agenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the Underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.
(Click on any photo to enlarge)


Jonathan Liebesman directed the film from a screenplay by Dan Mazeau & David Leslie Johnson, story by Greg Berlanti and; David Leslie Johnson and; Dan Mazeau, based on characters created by Beverley Cross.
The film was produced by Basil Iwanyk, who also produced the previous hit "Clash of the Titans," and Polly Johnsen. The executive producers are Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Callum McDougall, Kevin De La Noy and Louis Leterrier.

The behind-the-scenes team included director of photography Ben Davis; production designer Charles Wood; Academy Award®-winning editor Martin Walsh ("Chicago,"); The music is by Oscar®-nominated composer Javier Navarrete ("Pan's Labyrinth") and costume designer Jany Temime.
A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Legendary Pictures, a COTT Productions LLC – Furia de Titanes II, A.I.E. Co-production, a Thunder Road Film production, "Wrath of the Titans" is being distributed in IMAX 3D and RealD 3D and 2D worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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