Movie Review - Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans (2012) * * *
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Stars: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Rosamund Pike

From IMDB:

"A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramírez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon's demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind."

My Thoughts:

When Clash of the Titans was remade several years ago I eagerly anticipated the film, and loved it when it was released.  Even thought it was significantly different from the original, it was a good movie, and thoroughly enjoyable.  So when I read that a sequel was in the works, I was very excited.

Unfortunately, Wrath of the Titans fell somewhat flat for me.  The special effects were great, and the movie has some really fun moments.  It's not a bad way to pass an afternoon.  It never really feels slow, the pacing is pretty good, and while it is a little predictable, I don't always mind that - sometimes predictable is a good thing.

I think that what soured me a little was the ending.  I really dislike it when a movie villain spends a huge amount of time and energy setting up the downfall of civilization, the end of the world, the demise of the universe, or whatever, and then doesn't follow through.  They pour all their evilness into the project, and are prepared to follow through all the way to the grisly end!  Then, someone says "I'm Sorry" and suddenly this villain is redeemed and joins the white-hats and fights the big bad thing that they created, and ultimately ends up saving the day.

Really?  REALLY??  If you are Hades and you're a bad-ass, then by golly you'd better not chicken out at the last minute and wuss-out on your own damn evil plan!

Some might see this as character redemption.  I see it as just annoying.

But other than that, it's a pretty good movie, so it gets three stars from me.  Bob really didn't want to see it in the first place, and even he said it wasn't too bad. So I guess, watch at your own risk?  I dunno...

Have you seen Wrath of the Titans yet?  What did you think?

Movies I'm looking forward to:
Lockout
The Raven
Marvel's The Avengers
Dark Shadows
Battleship (Still not sure???)
Men In Black 3
Snow White and the Huntsman (Can't wait!)
Prometheus