Wrath of the Titans is the sequel to the fantasy/ action film Clash of the Titans and it was released at the cinema in the UK on 30th March. The film is rated 12A due to scenes of violence and action and it also has a run time of 99 minutes.
Plot
Ten years has passed since Perseus became a hero and defeated the almighty Kraken. Now attempting to live a quiet life as a fisherman with his son Helius, Perseus believes that he can get on with his life and forget his heritage. Meanwhile, a struggle between Gods is brewing and the human world is once again in danger. Humans no longer believe as much in the Gods, resulting in the slow loss of their power and also their strength. With this problem, the Gods are losing hold on the Titans and Zeus and Hades' ferocious father, Kronos is gaining power. The only way to save the world is for Perseus to take his rightful place again as a demi-God to save the fate of both worlds.
What I thought
I really enjoy films about Gods and ancient lands and I actually quite liked Clash of the Titans. As I have a new Cineworld Unlimited Card, I'm making the most of it and going to see something whenever I have the time. As I liked the first of these films, I figured that Wrath of the Titans would be a pretty safe bet.
Sam Worthington takes up his place once again as son of Zeus, Perseus. His performance in the first film was far from fantastic but the role does not exactly ask for a hell of a lot of ability. All that was really needed was to be quite moody, a bit stubborn and to look good wielding a weapon. On those accounts, he passes with flying colours. When it comes to actual acting ability though, Worthington is less than impressive. I feel that although he does ok, anyone could have really played this role with those traits and probably done a better job.
In complete contrast, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes do amazing jobs in their roles as Zeus and Hades respectively. Fiennes especially plays his part to perfection, having such good practise playing the bad guy. As Hades, he is truly scary, although not as much as Lord Voldermort but I still wouldn't want to cross paths with him. Pitting him against his brother Zeus gave the plot an intense feeling at times and gave me some mixed emotions. In one sense I wanted Neeson to come over all bad ass and kick his arse while on the other hand I wanted the two brothers to make amends. These two characters/ actors make most of the film good and worth watching.
Someone else who also does this is Toby Kebbell who is introduced as the son of Poseidon. Kebbell adds some much needed humour (British humour at that!) to a bland and timid script. The addition of this fun and cheeky character lightens up the mood of the film throughout and since his arrival on screen, I was a lot more interested in what was happening and I enjoyed the film a lot more in general because of him. I do wish that he had been given a lot more lines and maybe a slightly bigger part in the plot but without him this film would have been very close to terrible.
The plot was quite confusing for many reasons. The beginning of the film starts off quite simply, establishing who everyone is and giving a small and quick recap of what happened in the previous film. From here, it all goes a bit wrong. Alliances and deceptions are set up from the very start although allegiances appear to change a million times over the course of the film. Some scenes are cut extremely short when they should have been made longer, giving a very confusing and mixed up feeling for the audience. The film is only 99 minutes long and with most films being around the 2 hour mark now; important aspects of this one could have certainly been drawn out more.
Instead of spending more time on the plot, script and giving the audience what they needed in relation to viable explanations, time and money is spent on expensive computer graphics. While these are impressive for the most part, I would have much preferred a good and solid story with a better cast. Great scenery and graphics are all well and good but what do they really mean when the story doesn't match their quality?
I went into this one fully expecting to love it but I left with very mixed feelings. While some cast members do make up for the awful choices made in this department, the plot just wasn't strong enough throughout to make me happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment