Review - Wrath of the Titans

Grade: D

Not long after the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans was released star Sam Worthington apologized for “let[ting] down some people” and promised to act “f**king better”.

After seeing the sequel to Clash, the more appropriately named Wrath of the Titans, one thing is clear about Sam Worthington: he has shown tremendous improvement in his acting abilities because that was one heck of an empty apology.

Jonathan Liebesman’s, the poor soul in the middle of Michael Bay’s efforts to destroy the legacy of the Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles, Wrath is as turgid and uninspired as the first remake, minus the kernel of trite fun that tempered the overwhelming last’s overall crappiness. This time Worthington’s dour Perseus is called into battle by his absentee father, Zeus (Liam Neeson), in an attempt to stop Zeus’ father, the child gobbling embodiment of time and lord of the pre-Olympian Titans, Cronos. Content to live out the rest of his life as a better father than his ever was, Perseus refuses until the sickest--and not in the hip way--looking manticore committed to celluloid threatens his son, Helius (John Bell). Spurned by the near loss of his only family, Perseus leaves his son behind to join warrior princess Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and his half-cousin Agenor (Toby Kebbell), the cowardly son of Poseidon. Together the three must brave cyclopes, four-armed whirling dervishes, labyrinths, and minotaurs in before they can stop Hades (a disenchanted Ralph Fiennes) and the rebellious Aries (Edgar Ramirez) from unleashing the Titans and eradicating the Greco-Roman Pantheon. Very little wrath is executed.

Liebesman does nothing to enliven the Titans franchise or bring anything remotely unique to the table. The flick still tracks more as big-screen video game with a progression marked more by achieving objectives and reaching checkpoints than any kind of meaningful narrative or emotional thrust. Sure, the characters all have some semblance of motivation, but those motivations are so thinly sketched that it’s hard to develop any level of investment in any character. Even without some degree of investment in the characters, the audience never has to worry about any danger befalling the character because Liebesman never establishes any stakes or tension. Rarely are Perseus and his crew ever in true danger because there’s sure to be some random god or weapon around to help them out of any remotely challenging predicament. The absolute lack of tension or character investment not only reflects poorly on the film but on Liebesman as a director who appears to have no fundamental understanding of how craft a compelling story.

Despite a promise of improved acting, the performances do little to elevate the flick above its D-level quality. Worthington fails to act “f**king better” and opts for his trademark glower instead of anything resembling human emotion. Neeson and Fiennes show up; dote and sneer, respectively; and collect a paycheck. Pike looks positively lost, and seems only slightly less engaged than Gemma Atkinson did in Clash. Toby Kebbell tries his best to be entertaining as a scheming ne’er do well, but a stream of bad jokes and radical eleventh hour change in his character, which comes out of nowhere and makes Kebbell seem either like a victim of script machinations or a man possessed with multiple personalities, easily undo his noble effort. Bill Nighy is also on hand in an extended cameo as Davy Jones mad ancestor, who actually seems scripted to be possessed by multiple personalities.

Between the performances and the uninspired direction, it’s surprising that Wrath even made it out of production and beyond the editing bay and Netflix instant streaming to the silver screen, but, in truth, it’s not that surprising. Warner Brothers knows they have an ace in the hole this summer with the Dark Knight Rises (DKR). Since DKR will likely put Warner deep into the black for 2012, they probably figure they can throw anything at the audience to keep them satiated until July 20. Sadly, they may be right, but throwing tripe like Wrath at audiences is just straight up disrespectful, and as an audience, the best thing to do is avoid Wrath like the plague and maybe prevent Warners, and the other studios, from pumping crap like Wrath into the multiplexes. Maybe.

The Yin and the Yang of it

Yin: Thin on plot, character, and any other essential element of a solid narrative. Derivative of almost any other historical/mythical action epic, right down to the amorphous glob of lava and rage that escaped from a longer, better video game like shadow of the colossus.

Yang: A few moments of quality 3D and decent creature effects.

In-Between: Wrath of the Titans is seven minutes shorter than Clash of the Titans.