The first movie actually had no titans and this one has only one Titan and he is barely there for a few minutes. Looks like they got the title itself wrong!! While stories of Greek gods, heroism and legends have long inspired movie makers, here, we have twisted tales that beat usual logic and that too for no good reason!
For starters, we’re told that Gods aren’t immortal and are dependant on human prayers to stay so and are constantly in a mess. And, their only saviors are half-human, half-god ‘heroes’ who are to save the Olympian Gods. And then we have gods fighting one another for supremacy. Family drama in the heavens, Ouch!
The story begins in the most clichéd manner with the hero Perseus (Sam Worthington) retiring to a quiet life of a fisherman. His immortal half-god consort, ‘Io’ in the first film is shown to have died. Turns out that Gemma Arterton who played the part then didn’t have dates for the sequel. And he has a son Heleus. You see, in the movies, having a son or a lover means that the baddies can use them as pawn; how convenient!
Back in the heavens, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the lord of the underworld and Zeus’ adversary has now teamed up with Ares (Édgar Ramírez), the god of war. The Gods are in trouble with the treacherous duo maim Poseidon and trap Zeus (Liam Neeson) in Tarturus so that they can use his power to revive the Kraken, a titan.
The Gods pin their hopes on Perseus who is unwillingly uprooted from a peaceful life into the thick of the battle. Sam Worthington looks tired and seems disinterested. And then we have Queen Andromeda (bond girl Rosamund Pike) who looks her part as a queen but not too well suited for action sequences. Joining them is Agenor (Toby Kebbell) who like Perseus has one godly parent; in this case, Poseidon.
While the trio head into Tartarus, mythology too is sent for a toss! One wonders what the part-man part bull Minotaur was doing in Tartarus and getting killed by Peresus instead of Thesus. While the digression is not a problem in itself, the battle lacks the punch and is over within seconds, that too under poor lighting!
The key selling point of the film was supposed to be its special effects. While its 2010 predecessor had the alibi that it was converted to 3D later, this entrée was supposed to have been better. But then, the special effects are nothing awesome.
At best, ‘Wrath of the Titans’ can be described as a half-baked but expensive outing for the young director, Jonathan Liebesman. The film is totally pointless. Possibly, the only good that this film could have done was to actually shoot it in Greece
Rating 2/10: Ill conceived plot, uninspired acting and direction!
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