Wrath of the Titans

Walking into Wrath of the Titans didn't feel good.  It felt wrong to buy the ticket, paying for the 3D.  Why did it feel like such a terrible thing to do?  If you ask that question, you didn't see the precursor to this film, Clash of the Titans, which was pretty bad, as far as I remember.  Frankly, I was surprised they were making a sequel.  While this isn't a review of Clash of the Titans, it is important to acknowledge the groundwork laid for this film by its 2010 predecessor.

Clash of the Titans was not the worst movie released that year, but it was anything but great.  While it may have made back its budget, it was largely reviled because of its terrible 3D conversion.  Adding insult to injury was the lack of 2D showings in many areas.  This led to inflated ticket prices for a movie that didn't use the gimmick well enough to justify the extra outlay of cash.

Based on those impressions, learning the studio had green-lit a sequel was quite shocking.  That feeling carried over to tonight, when I was pleasantly shocked to find that this film, Wrath of the Titans, was actually quite good.  Don't line up any Oscar nominations, but there are worse movies in theaters right now.

Let's start with the story.  I'm not going to summarize it because I expect you have seen previews, which would have given you an overview of the story.  What I will tell you is that it seems like they made an actual effort with this film.  There is no deep plot, but the action scenes appear to make sense.  Fights happen for a reason.  Monsters show up, and you understand why, for the most part.

The writers have taken the time to create characters that are not the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.  There are a couple of characters that act as mild comic relief, with some lines designed to garner a chuckle from the audience.  Creating a comic relief character in this type of movie can often fail, with products like Jar Jar Binks being the end result.  I never felt that level of annoyance with the funnier characters in Wrath of the Titans.  As a matter of fact, one of them was my favorite character in the film.

The actors all turn in strong performances, which save some scenes or revive the film when the pacing begins to slow too much.  I began growing bored about halfway into the film or so, which was not good, as I was already tired.  Luckily for me, Bill Nighy showed up to save the day and the movie.  There are a multitude of talented actors in the film, and I'm not sure who called in the favors to get them back or in for the first time.  Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes are all present, and none of them are leaving teeth marks on the scenery.

There are a few problems, as no film is perfect.  Jonathan Liebesman, the director, also directed Battle: Los Angeles, which I liked.  In that film, when I lost track of what was going on in the action, it fit because Battle: Los Angeles was a film where missing bits of action drew you into what the characters were experiencing.  Here, in Wrath of the Titans, it was more of a problem.  For the most part, I was fine, but there were one or two times when my brain stumbled while trying to keep up.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was distracting.

I mentioned the pacing issues earlier.  Once again, this isn't something that ruins the film, but it did feel a little long in parts.  Some sequences in the first half of the film could have been cut down a bit, but were I more awake, it might not have mattered.

Wrath of the Titans did manage to fix a couple mistakes that Clash of the Titans had made before.  Clash was criticized for using post conversion 3D, which resulted in a terrible movie watching experience.  Wrath, on the other hand, had spectacularly well done 3D, also done as post conversion.  I like my 3D experience a little hokey, so I appreciate swords, stones, and the like coming out of the screen at me.  I didn't appreciate it the one time they used two almost identical scenes, but that just seemed like lazy film-making.

Luckily, the film makers made much better use of their special effects this time around.  There were some practical effects, which were nice, and they also used different lighting to maximize the impact of some of the weaker effects.  Frankly, I was reminded of the original 1981 Clash of the Titans.  I'm not saying this film looked like it, but it seemed to capture the spirit a bit more, definitely better than the actual remake.

I'm drawn to films like this one, so going to see it was a no brainer, even if I expected it to be terrible.  I consider it a nice treat that it was a pretty good movie.  If you have already seen the Hunger Games, go watch Wrath of the Titans.  It's entertaining and a good way to kill two hours.