2010’s Clash of the Titans remake was an abject failure in almost every sense of the word. Wooden acting, laughable dialogue, and a dreadful story all derailed what could have been an absolutely stellar romp through Greek mythology. Unfortunately in the world of Hollywood, monetary success, no matter how small, will always trump a critical mauling. Enter: Wrath of the Titans.
Bringing back Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes, Wrath of the Titans is directed by Battle: Los Angeles’ Jonathan Liebesman, as opposed to Louis Leterrier, who worked on the original. Much like Battle: Los Angeles, Wrath doesn’t look like it is going to ask a lot of its audience in terms of intelligence, but there is no denying that it is a visual treat. Everything a mythology buff could want is presented here with beautiful CGI. Giants, monsters, and Gods are all near-photorealistic with a real sense of character and intensity.
Special effects aside, fans of the original should find more of the same to like here. Testosterone seemingly drips from every frame as pervasive violence and huge battles take precedent over deep plots and characters. For the action fan, this movie seemingly has it all. However, cinephiles looking for a bit more substance to go along with flashy style might be turned off by this movie’s mission statement.
We’ll see if Wrath of the Titans can throw us a curveball by giving us a deeper story and characters when it is released on March 30, 2012.
BeBop Jerry December 19th, 2011 at 06:21 PM
Much as I hate to see all this CGI stuff, especially around this mythic genre pioneered by the great Harryhausen, and as un-compelling as these films are, devoid of charm, I kinda like seeing just a bunch of giant monsters running around. The previous film, a remake of Clash of the Titans, had nothing in it that captured the imagination, that endears and endures, no magic, no charm, nothing to spark dreaming, which is something the Harryhausen originals had in spades. Still, I kinda liked it. Didn't stick with me, but it was an OK experience to watch it and not quite as bad as portrayed above, everyone did as well with it as they possibly could. However, this is a new era and I'm not certain you even CAN recapture the innocence (the magic, the simple thrill, the imagination) of the bygone era because too much is possible these days - there's just nothing all that special when visual miracles are a dime a dozen. Used to be we waited YEARS for just one movie and were grateful for what we could get (perhaps a bit too grateful). Now, if you don't like Clash and/or Wrath of the Titans just wait a week and something else maybe more to your liking will come out... or just turn on the TV or go to the internet. In this over saturated market the same sort of rare magic is probably an impossibility. These films are churned out, they are NOT the vision of one or two visionary filmmakers, almost the norm in films and not the rare specimens they once were. Perhaps if someone with a unique vision and a sense of mystery and magic and dramatic showmanship came along to show us something we've never seen before, rather than the usual video game style director (really, whoever made this one and the last Titan picture shows NO personal LOVE for what they're doing, no matter what slobbery excitement they may display in the DVD commentary). STILL, I find nothing really all that "wrong" with such films. I'd never see this in the theater, I'll just wait until it hits the local library and I'll take it out for free.