Wrath of the Titans

I can sum up my opinion of this movie fairly simply -- it's a total popcorn movie. Grand spectacle, cool action, excellent special effects, heroes to root for, but absolutely and completely momentary. I don't think anyone should go into this movie and expect it to be anything other than a swords and sandals swashbuckling good time.

Let's start with the gods. They may not have quite the kick-ass coolness of last year's Immortals, but they are still pretty awesome. Ralph Fiennes (Hades) and Liam Neeson (Zeus) get to chew the scenery again and provide most of the exposition for what little plot there is. They also get to show their godly abilities by literally throwing around their power with CGI goodness. Sam Worthington (Perseus) is a little more believable this time around. In the last movie, I think he came down with a serious case of tree acting, probably left over from his Terminator role. This time he's quite a bit warmer, possibly because he has some actual chemistry with Rosamund Pike, who replaces Alexa Davalos as Andromeda for some Hollywood casting reason.

The general quest formula is almost thrown in for the heck of it. Maybe it's because this is such a short film, but they waste no time whatsoever getting from point to point. They introduce characters one minute and kill them off the next. MacGuffins are thrown into the mix, and then discarded as irrelevant a few scenes later. I kept thinking that if they added half an hour, we might have actually cared whether certain characters died. Maybe that's the entire problem with the film: it's way too truncated. Still, I'm not entirely sure if it matters.

I suppose one could argue that a movie must have plot and character to be worthy of viewing. Yet I got engrossed by the gloss, could easily root for the likeable characters, knew who the villains were, and didn't leave the theater regretting the time spent watching it. Will it win any awards? Maybe for visual effects, but probably not.

So I'll keep this review as brief as the movie. If you liked the trailers, or like heavy action popcorn movies, or if you liked Clash of the Titans, then I'd recommend Wrath of the Titans for a fun and diverting time.

2.5 out of 4 Godly weapons that when combined can destroy anything.

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

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