Monday 2 April 2012

Wrath of the Titans

It’s clash of the accents in “Wrath of the Titans,” an action-packed blockbuster sequel that’s so multicultural you’d swear you were attending or listening in on a United Nations meeting - well, you would be, had it not been for all the fire-breathing monsters and lava-spewing demons on frequent display. While apparently set in ancient Greece, “Wrath" features not a single utterance from a Greek accent, the film instead featuring voices that originate from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and one that has travelled a long, tiring journey from Down Under. The character of Greek god Zeus (Liam Neeson, “Unknown”), for example, speaks with Neeson’s natural Irish twang (I think), while his brother, Hades (Ralph Fiennes, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”), speaks through Fiennes’ menacing use of the Queen’s English; meanwhile, Zues’ son, Ares (Édgar Ramírez, “The Bourne Ultimatum”), appears to be Venezuelan.

In addition, our leading man, Sam Worthington (“Man on a Ledge”), has (like Halle Berry and her magically disappearing Kenyan tongue in the “X-Men” sequels) mercifully dropped the faux American accent he completely cocked up in the first film, settling for his natural Aussie voice instead. This cultural diversity is very peculiar (albeit morally admirable, from a certain perspective), and should tell you two things about the film: 1) Its level of dedication to staying true to the Greeky Greekiness of the Greek stories from which the film originates, and 2) How enthralling the film is, given that I found myself frequently distracted by the actors’ conflicting pronunciations of the word “Tartarus.”


In this follow-up to 2010 fantasy actioner “Clash of the Titans” (itself a hollow remake of the 1981 Ray Harryhausen classic), the worlds of the gods and the humans are both in trouble. With humans no longer devoted to their almighty rulers, the gods’ strength is weakening along with the walls surrounding the underworld prison of Tartarus, threatening to set loose hordes of vicious mythical creatures upon the innocent earthlings, including a big scary lava monster named Kronos.

The situation is worsened when Zeus, god of thunder, is imprisoned in the underworld by evil brother Hades and treacherous son Ares, who wish to drain him of his power and implant it all into the long-dormant father of all gods, whom Hades and Ares hope shall grant them immortality (I don’t see how that could possibly go wrong). Now a humble, widowed fisherman living with his 10-year-old boy, Kraken-slaying demigod Perseus (Worthington), son of Zeus, is forced to spring back into action to stop Hades and Ares’ nefarious ways, free his imprisoned father and save all of mankind from a horrible, fiery death.


“Clash of the Titans” was directed by Louis Leterrier, the French filmmaker who also brought us fun-filled action flicks “The Transporter,” “Transporter 2” and “The Incredible Hulk.” “Wrath of the Titans,” on the other hand, is directed by Jonathan Liebesman, the American twerp who gave us dire horror prequel “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” and laborious alien invasion picture “Battle: Los Angeles.” Based on this evidence alone, it's clear that “Wrath” should be even more tiring and depressing than its snooze-inducing predecessor, and yet shockingly it’s not: it’s quite the opposite, in fact.

Now, that’s not to say that “Wrath of the Titans” is any good; it most certainly is not, but what it is is slightly better and more enjoyable than “Clash of the Titans” ever managed to be, although that’s hardly a Herculean task to accomplish. What “Wrath” has in its favour is some semi-decent CGI, a proper sense of adventure about it, and a never-ending assembly of noisy action set-pieces, a la the work of Michael Bay.


These set-pieces, of which there are many, range from a sword-swinging battle in the middle of the desert, to a tricky navigation through an ever-moving labyrinth leading to the gates of the underworld, and to a scuffle with a brutish, hammer-bashing cyclops in the middle of a booby-trapped forest. Liebesman tackles these sequences with a visual flair and a passion for crashing noises and computerised jiggery pokery, but most of them are far too messy and chaotic, like a scene (action or non-action) from “Transformers 2,” and not in a good way (is there a good way?).

But it’s when the action ceases and the video game graphics take a coffee break that the film really grinds to a halt, leaving us having to endure wooden readings of clunky dialogue that, while a little more jazzed up than last time, remains as uninspired and head-bashing as it was in “Clash;” there’s only so many deafening yellings of “Perseus!” and “Helius!” a man can take.


We also have to deal with the acting talents of Mr Worthington, who has decided to spend the film’s entire 99-minute length scowling like a mopey teenager, perhaps because of his silly hairdo, which threatens to grow into that dodgy mullet he sported last year in “Man on a Ledge.” Neeson and Fiennes appear to be here simply to pick up a pay check, and who can blame them: all they have to do is slap on a fake beard, stand around a movie set and recite half-assed threats to one another, and voila, they’re in the money; they practically sleepwalk their way through the film, something Worthington appears to be doing, only one suspects he’s actually trying, bless him.

“Wrath of the Titans” may not inspire wrath from the audience, offering a serviceable, inconsequential and mindless diversion from non-explosive everyday life, but it’s unlikely to inspire much glee either. If you’re a fan of “Clash" (and I know there are some of you lurking in the darkness out there), I see no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy “Wrath;” it is, after all, much the same as its predecessor, just done a little more competently. I just would have preferred a lot more effort being placed into the script and the characters, but alas, it seems the titans couldn’t be bothered.

5/10

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