Ostensibly a sequel, the film needs little backstory to be experienced, and jumps right into the action from the get-go. Following his monster-slaying endeavours from the previous film, demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) is now a father, and happy to while away his time fishing and caring for his only son…that is, until a conspiracy by Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez) leads to the unleashing of the Titans, the capture of Perseus` father Zeus (Liam Neeson) and the unleashing of Chronos, the big daddy of them all, who`s been imprisoned in Tartarus since the creation of the world, and is very, very angry.
True to form, Wrath of the Titans is a film that places style before substance, with the threadbare plot being little more than an excuse to pit the protagonist against a menagerie of CGI beasties and a veritable pantheon of gods. The action itself is erratic, heady at times but also slightly rushed and occasionally claustrophobic. Undoubtedly, director Jonathan Liebesman decided that the best thing for the movie was to fill it to saturation point with non-stop monster-slaying, a move that`s likely to appeal to those who need their fantasy action fix, but which may be disappointing to those expecting a meaty backstory and memorable characters.
The issue of memorable characters brings us to the crux of Wrath of The Titans` central weakness. Worthington puts in a generally solid performance, but has no one else to riff off of, with obligatory tough female lead Rosamund Pike coming across as forced in her role as Andromeda. Veteran actors Neeson and Fiennes add some much-needed gravitas with their onscreen time, but the rest of the cast is relegated to generally extraneous roles, with Tony Kebbel as fellow demigod Agenor being a perfect case in point.
Sadly, Wrath of the Titans is a film that has more quantity than quality: more gods, more titans, more monsters, all clamouring for screen time, but with no element taking a satisfactory lion`s share. While doubtlessly appealing to fans of the genre, the film has little to offer those averse to generic fantasy flicks.
Summary: More crowded with gods, monsters and heroes than a Hindu pantheon.
Rating: 3/5 Raphael Lim