Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Writers: Dan Mazeau, David Johnson, Greg Berlanti

Composer: Javier Navarrete

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Danny Huston, John Bell, Lily James, Alejandro Naranjo, Freddy Drabble

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Feel the Wrath

Plot: Perseus braves the treacherous underworld to rescue his father, Zeus, captured by his son, Ares, and brother Hades who unleash the ancient Titans upon the world.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) is outstanding.  The 2010 remake was an embarrassment.  The special effects were fine I guess but the action scenes they accompanied were lackluster and devoid of fun and excitement.  The creature designs weren't all that inspiring, either.  All of this is the exact opposite from the 1981 film.  Cut to this sequel, which I avoided because the first one was such a drag, and it's a big step in the right direction.

The creature designs are lots of fun and badass.  All across the board.  I loved all of them.  The CGI is fantastic.  I totally dug the creatures in the Underworld that slung liquid fire at their foes.  That was fucking badass.  It's little things like that that can give a picture that added oomph it needs.  The action scenes were fun, too, which blindsided me into pleasant submission.

Adding Ralph Fiennes to any movie is a bonus in my book.  He's great but not so much here.  Why give a role like this to such a prestigious actor and not give him much to do?  I don't get it.  Liam Neeson, like the first film, is bland.  Maybe he's just not suited to this kind of role.  Remember how much fun Olivier had with the character in the '81 film?  Where is that in these films?  Yeah, I know, my idea of Zeus is apparently different than Neeson's but he's just kind of blah.  Which leads me to Worthington.  He's back and he's bland.  He's not bad, per se, but he's lacking that little spark of fun and adventure that should accompany a character like that.  Stoicism isn't what was needed for Perseus. 

The ending battle went from 60 to badass as soon as two main characters decided to jump into the fight and kick some mythological butt.  I picked up the 3D Blu-ray at the flea market for 3 bucks which also had a disc inside for THOR (2011) in 3D.  I'm going to Craigslist that fucker but keep WRATH.  Not a bad deal.  The 3D is great and it's a huge leap forward from the crappy post-3D work done on the first film.  OK, so the acting wasn't great (although there were some fun characters and moments) and the story was simple but I really dug everything else which combined to make an entertaining and fun movie.  Some of that could have been my overly low expectations coming off the first film but I dug it and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.