Wrath of the Titans is Lord of the Rings-lite, with Kronos substituting for Sauron. Unfortunately, Wrath of the Titans director Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: LA) is no Peter Jackson and the Titans story in no way compares to the fantastic adventure series that is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Wrath of the Titans is just going through the motions, with neither the inspiration or enthusiasm of most big-budget action adventure films.
The Story
Set 10 years after the events of Clash of the Titans, demi-god Perseus is a widower raising his son to be a fisherman. The man who defeated the Kraken now leads a quiet life, but of course that all changes rather abruptly (or there wouldn't be the need for a sequel, would there?) when the imprisoned Titans decide to overthrow the gods and wipe out humanity. Opting to play for Kronos' team, Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez) - the God of War who has major daddy issues (Zeus, his father, seems to love Perseus more) - go against Kronos' other sons, Poseidon (Danny Huston) and Zeus (Liam Neeson), and set out to free him from the underworld. Their big plan involves capturing Zeus, tying him up down in the underworld, and draining him of his power and giving it to Kronos.
With the fate of all mankind hanging in the balance...again...Perseus is drawn into the war. But this time around, he has Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and fellow demi-god Agedor (Toby Kebbell) fighting at his side. Can they defeat Hades and Ares and rescue Zeus before it's too late?
The Bottom Line
Clash of the Titans is often held up as the best example of a film needlessly converted to 3D. Wrath of the Titans' 3D is just a tad better than its predecessor, but still unnecessary and not worth the higher price of admission.
Also working against Wrath are CGI creatures who look like nothing more than CGI creatures. Director Liebesman tries to hide some of effects by never lingering on the digital creations and instead focusing on the human fighters, which would be great were it not for the fact the action scenes don't have much umph to them and need to be spiced up by longer shots of the monsters.
While there are some entertaining performances from a few of the supporting players - Bill Nighy and Toby Kebbell, in particular - Wrath of the Titans is an unnecessary continuation of a story that wasn't very entertaining in 2010.
GRADE: C
Wrath of the Titans was directed by Jonathan Liebesman and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of fantasy violence and action.
Theatrical Release: March 30, 2012
