Film Review : Wrath of the Titans
Mar 31, 2012 05:43PM ● By Justin Buettner
Ten years after the events from Clash of the Titans, Perseus now lives as a fisherman with his son in a small village. Over time the Gods have become weakened by mankind’s lack of devotion. Ares and Hades conspire to capture Zeus and drain his power to unleash the evil father of the Gods Kronos. Perseus with the help of Andromeda and Agrenor, Poseidon’s son, break into the underworld to help set Zeus free and save the Earth from certain destruction.
I know most critiques like to skewer action movies like Wrath of the Titans but for the life of me I don’t understand why? Wrath of the Titans is a fun action movie and it is done really quite well. The film moves at a quick pace from one big action scene to the next, it is populated by interesting characters portrayed by an extremely strong cast, and the special effects were very effective.
Director Jonathan Liebesman has proven that he is very capable at handling big special effect action scenes with his one two punch of Battle: Los Angeles and Wrath of the Titans. What I like about his style is he is not afraid to let the camera remain on one shot, which allows the action to be clear. Too often action directors either shake the camera or make split second edits to try and make their action scenes more kinetic. It only ends up making me confused and motion sick. I loved the opening action scene depicting Perseus’ fight with a hell beast through town. A very smooth tracking shot follows the action without an edit. You could see everything that was happening and it was an extremely exciting and well made scene.
The cast for this movie was exceptionally strong. Sam Worthington is more reliable than spectacular, but he is anchored by Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes who are two of the better actors in Hollywood. The decision to make these two Zeus and Hades was excellent casting as both have a huge screen presence. The only disappointing part of the movie was I wanted to see more of these two fight as Gods at full strength. We get a glimpse of their power near the end but I wanted more. I also enjoyed Rosamund Pike’s performance as Andromeda. She fit the role exceedingly well and was quite believable as a warrior queen.
The effects were well done in the movie too. Often times, even in the large budget movies, the creature effects still come across as fake because filmmakers rely too much on computer graphics. This film did employ quite a bit of the computer graphic monsters but they fit in well with the movie and I did not find their appearance or movements distracting or fake as I watched.
The story was quite efficient. The basic story was simple but effective. The action scenes were exciting and came at a fast pace. The end was suitably epic and had a good payoff. In short, it was exactly as it should be. Too often these types of films try to be more dramatic than they should be and end up wrecking the flow of the movie. After all people who go to see this type of movie are there for the action.There are no such problems here. At just over 90 minutes the running time is perfect.
People who enjoy good action films will have a great time with Wrath of the Titans. I would suggest to watch this movie in 2D and avoid the 3D though. Action movies that are not shot on 3D cameras (this one was not) often times do not have a good 3D conversion. This means the pictures is dark, the 3D looks flat, and the colors are dimmed and dull. Save the extra money that 3D costs for a movie that better employs the technology. Wrath of the Titans is a perfect big budget action movie that entertains from start to finish.
Films like Wrath of the Titans : Clash of the Titans, 300, and The Mummy
Justin Buettner is Style's resident movie dude! How did he get this role? Well, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts in film Production and a duel minor in Animation and Business with an emphasis in the entertainment field. He later went on to work on several independent films in various key roles including writer and later worked in the special effects field as a motion capture artist. He has since relocated to the Sacramento area with his family and continues writing for small independent films in addition to his movie reviews for Style Magazine.