Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Starring: Sam Worthington as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades, Edgar Ramirez as Ares, Rosamund Pike as Andromeda, Toby Kebbell as Agenor, Bill Nighy as Hephaestus, John Bell as Helius
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Production: Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures
Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Language: English
Runtime: 99 min
Short review (Spoilers Alert)
The fact that I had taken into consideration to be reserved with the story actually helped me not to dismiss this movie completely. Because the story is just made up and has nothing to do with mythology. I think that the made up story actually saved the movie because it wasn't rushed so much like in the Clash of the Titans. The plot begins when Zeus, Poseidon and Ares appear before the gates of Tartarus and ask Hades to help him destroy the chained Cronus who already sent some of the monsters on earth to terrorise humans. So it appeared. But in fact it were Ares and Hades who are working together with Cronus who promised them eternal immortality once he is set free. Because the mankind only worshiped the works of Ares for some reason (it was not told why), other gods were left vulnerable and Ares managed to kill Poseidon. Together with Hades they chained Zeus in front of Cronus, so that he could draw his powers and finally recover which made no sense to me whatsoever. So Perseus is once again forced to save his father and the world. And he is not alone. He has the help of Agenor, son of Poseidon, and Queen Andromeda whom Perseus finally had some romance with. They travel to the mystical island where they look for Hephaestus who helps them enter the Tartarus. Hephaestus character is quite funny and that was the best part of the movie for me. Well, the whole part when they reached the island of Hephaestus until the entrance to the underworld. And then came the weird part of the underworld, which I won't even bother to comment, before reaching Tartarus and free Zeus after fighting with Ares for a while. And Hades joins the group after having enough of cocky Ares, so it seemed. Then everyone prepares to battle and Cronus awakens. I liked the fact that they made him a giant, but they totally missed his appearance, because he is like a giant lava golem. His behaviour is, sadly, on an imbecile level and by now everyone knows what is going to happen in the end.
On the other hand, the effects and fighting sequences are good like in the previous movie, but acting is below average, probably the result of the forced sequences and poor scripts. It is clear that they wanted Agenor to be funny character who would give the extra hype but the actor failed completely. There is also no connection between the characters. But as I have said before, the story saved them because it's presented this way. All of other actors tried to do their best but it just wasn't meant for them to succeed in this movie. They just weren't used the right way. The only bright thing was the character of Hephaestus, although completely non-related with the myths, it was refreshing and funny. In my final thought, it's really a poor example of a mythology-based fictional film, but if you'll get into it with zero expectation and forget about Greek gods and Greek mythology for an hour and a half, you just might enjoy it on a good day.