Yes, for better or worse, the titans are back.
Zeus and Hades threatened mankind in the first film, the 2010 version of "Clash of the Titans," and Perseus, played by Sam Worthington, swooped in to defend our mortal lives.
Now the gods are the ones in need of some assistance. Seems that mankind isn't praying to the inhabitants of Mount Olympus, and the gods are losing their power and may just die out. With immortality on the chopping block, Hades and Ares join forces against Zeus to free Kronos, the titan imprisoned in Tartarus, in order to secure their immortality.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Liam Neeson portrays Zeus in a scene from 'Wrath of the Titans.'
Now, I did see the first film, so my expectations of the sequel were not that high, but I thought it might be a "fun, thrill-ride" of a movie.
I should have brought Dramamine.
Sure the plot was thin, almost transparent, and the dialogue was limited to short bursts of necessary information and occasional humorous outbursts (mostly provided by Perseus' half-brother Agenor, portrayed by Toby Kebbell), but then again, no one really goes to an action fantasy film for character development and plot intrigues. One goes to an action fantasy film for just that, action. And I wanted to enjoy the many obstacles, demons and beasties that our hero Perseus must defeat.
Unfortunately, the cuts are so fast and furious, the editing so abrupt, that I felt somewhat cheated. I wanted to see the chimera in action, not just a glimpse of it as it flew by or the flashes of it as Perseus tries to subdue it. Granted the super- slow motion shot is overdone these days, but it would have been nice to really appreciate the effort and creativity of the special effects designers. The final battle between Kronos and the armies featured Makhai, fighters with two heads and torsos. They were such a blur that by the time I could really appreciate, or even fear, what I was looking at, the scene was over. It was like watching hummingbirds at a red feeder.
Instead, the battles were so dazzlingly fast that they made me question what exactly had just happened.
Don't get me wrong, clearly the demons and Kronos were failing under Perseus' onslaught with the assistance of Andromeda (the token female and abrupt love interest, played by Rosamund Pike) and her armies, but the details and nuances were totally lost. I am still trying to figure out the maze that the characters navigate in the attempt to access Tartarus.
Worthington is strong and virile as Perseus, and of course, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, Zeus and Hades respectively, bring their charisma, power and vocal strengths to their respective roles.
But I wasn't there to watch an acting tour de force. I wanted to be awed by the dirt-spewing, lava-throwing, weapon-wielding creatures and it just didn't happen. The dust cleared and all I could think was, "What was that?"
