The Olympians of Greece were amongst the most ungodly deities of all mythology. They usurped their power from the Titans (who did the same to their parents), fought amongst each other constantly and used the people that worshiped them like a child would a toy. Their powers faded over time as man came to worship them less and less, but another fate was originally intended for them. The Titans they imprisoned made attempts to reclaim their former glory. This movie may not tell that exact tale, but it does illustrate how far these gods were willing to go for power. A child should one day surpass his father, but the child should be humble about it, lest he face the father’s wrath.
AND MY FATHER BEFORE ME I was going to recap “Clash of the Titans,” but reading is fundamental, so click the link. The gods of Olympus usurped their power from Kronos and the other Titans, sealing most of them away in Tartarus after their defeat. The lynchpin that assured Kronos would never rise again was the devotion of man to the gods, but man has outgrown said devotion as few still pray to their makers. The gods are becoming mortal and their powers are weakening. After treachery strikes the throne of Olympus, Zeus once again calls upon his son, the demigod Perseus, to save the world from the return of Kronos. A race against time will take Perseus to the ends of the Earth and far beneath it. He will face all manner of man, god and monster as he tries to create a world safe for his son to grow up in.
BUT NO SHINY ARMOR THIS TIME Once again, we get a visual treat from the Titans’ movies. From the Chimera assault to the rising of Kronos, the visual effects in this movie are fantastic. Whether the crowd around you are mature moviegoers or idiots like the ones we had to deal with, you will hear some “oohs,” “aahs,” and “wows.” I have but two complaints; one being that once again the Owl from the original appears and is once again cast aside like garbage. The other is that the title of the movie is a bit misleading. The only actual Titan to appear is Kronos. Honestly, I let that go because that means that there was one more Titan than actually appeared in the original movie or the remake. If they were able to accomplish effects of this caliber with only a $150M budget, other movie houses need to take notes.
MONEY TALKS Just the fact that you have the talent of Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in this movie proves that money talks. The first movie was not terrible, but they also had a previous movie to base the story on. This movie was a new creation entirely. None of the women from the original film reprise their roles so you have a main character inexplicably killed off (how does someone that doesn’t age just die?) and what Peter Griffin would refer to as “wrong sounding Muppets.” Granted, Rosamund Pike is by no means a poor replacement for Alexa Davalos; she also delivered some of the better lines in the movie. The problem is that aside from the chemistry of Fiennes and Neeson as Hades and Zeus, this film could almost be watched muted. Sam Worthington’s “performance” consisted of violently assaulting everything in site, getting his ass kicked repeatedly and uttering the equivalent of “Come at me bro” a few times. Don’t get me wrong, I like Sam Worthington, but there will be no Oscars for this movie.
It is a shame that I cannot recommend this movie to anyone. The special effects and the music were really well done and the overall product easily could have been a lot better. I say this a lot, but they could have just followed the source material. Had the original mythology been properly followed, Warner Bros. and Legendary could easily have squeezed a trilogy out of this story. Instead of copying the 1981 original, they could have made what I would call “Rise of the Titans,” because the 12 Titans did the same thing the Greek gods did. They beat their parents and took over. The “Clash” movie could have been the Olympians taking over. And the finale would still be “Wrath” but tell the real story where Zeus had to fight Typhon and Echidna. All of this happened before Perseus was even born, so you could even have gotten a fourth movie out of it all. Regardless, what is done is done and moviegoers need to be done with this film before they even walk in. Do not spend IMAX money on it and I cannot even say catch a matinee because this is a movie that forces 3-D on you. Matinee prices are not any cheaper in that instances. Pretend that you are a citizen of ancient Greece and this film is Zeus and just ignore it.
My Take On: Wrath of The Titans
1st Impression: Wrath of The Titans [Feature Trailer]
