There are a couple of pluses in The Wrath of the Titans . One is the concept that gods need our prayers to exist. It is just beyond cool to think that we are doing gods a favour by praying to them. And the second is watching Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades go in for some heavy duty homoerotic bonding. The two thespians seek comfort from the truly terrible script in each other's bad hair and sibilant whispers.
That's it — couple means exactly two and was not used as a figure of speech. Otherwise, the movie is irredeemable. Dull and dun coloured, insipid and uninspired, the movie plods from point A to point B with hectic CGI, flat dialogue and lobotimised action.
Ten years after Perseus slays the kraken and is living as a single parent bringing up his bratty son Helios, Zeus calls upon him to face his destiny. Kronos, the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, is wicked as they come. The three gods imprison their father in Tartarus with the other Titans. Hades, smarting under Zeus duplicity of banishing him to the underworld, strikes a deal with Kronos and trades Zeus for immortality.
Kronos being generally wicked is up to dirty dealings and it is left to Perseus to rap everyone on their knuckles and bring peace and goodwill to the world. He is helped by the warrior queen Andromeda and the thief and demi god Agenor. Sam Worthington continues to be gloomy as Perseus, while Rosamund Pike looks like she prefers James Bond (she was the icy Miranda Frost in Die Another Day ) to Greek gods. Billy Nighy is around as fallen god Hephaestus, while Toby Kebbell is annoying as the thieving side kick Agenor.
After leaching all the fun from alien invasions in Battle: Los Angeles , Jonathan Liebesman has fixed his somnambulant eye on the sword and sandal saga. At 100 minutes, this sequel to the 2010 film, Clash of the Titans, seems interminable and horror of horrors, part three is in the works. Hollywood cannot seem to have enough of a bad thing!
Wrath of the Titans
Genre: Action/fantasy
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast: Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson
Storyline: Perseus is dragged out of retirement to save the world from Kronos' evil designs
Bottomline: Same old, same old