Review: Wrath of the Titans

Most Ninja Turtle fans right now eyes are all on the news about the new “Ninja Turtles” movie for 2013, which has us watching those who are named for the film, one of which is director Jonathan Liebesman.  As I mentioned in a post back when we first heard that Liebesman was looking to be the new director for the “Ninja Turtles” movie, I have not really known who he was.  Never seeing any movies directed by him before.  Well to my luck, a new movie is hitting theaters this weekend, “Wrath of the Titans”, giving me the chance to see Liebesman work on the big screen.

Before going to “Wrath of the Titans”, I sat down and watched “Clash of the Titans” to try and get the background of the film down.  The first film was okay, though it felt to be missing something.  I felt for the lead character losing his family, but also felt for the gods with so many people just turning their backs on them.  The film had its plot, characters, and action, though you didn’t really start to care as much for most of the people traveling with Perseus.  I realized that most of them were there to just be picked off in battle.  Like a handful of other movies I’ve been seeing lately, they also used the close ups a lot, which is something I am not a fan of.  Now that I’ve watched the first film, I was ready to go see “Wrath of the Titans”.

“Wrath of the Titans” picks up years after the first film. Perseus’s wife is dead though he has a son.  He’s been living as a fisherman with his son, and swore not to pull his son into war to his wife.  Though when the Gods are falling and Earth is in danger, Perseus learns fast that he can no longer ignore his calling.  He leaves his son in the hands of someone he trusts and heads off to face the battle of a lifetime.  Out to save everyone, including his father, Zeus.  And what a twisted ride they bring you through with Perseus on this mission.

From the first battle scene, I found myself enjoying the creatures that were being created for this film.  The effects department had their work cut out for them and they did not disappoint, bringing us really cool creatures to destroy and kill the humans that got in their way.  In each battle we got to see new and interesting things popping up.  The worse thing was the close ups, they came back to haunt me in this film and usually during the fight scenes.  There’s one fight scene where you don’t even get to fully see what he’s fighting most of the time, as it is all close ups and really annoying.  If they laid off of the close ups, I would of enjoyed this film a lot more.

I’d like to talk about how I feel about close ups, and why they annoy me so much.  When you go to a movie, you’re going to see the action on the screen and to enjoy what creative and new moves they can come up with.  Though if you’re right in on the faces of the people fighting, you’re just getting expressions and missing way more actions.  A lot of the time, close ups are used to cut down on the cost of special effects.  It’s a shame when people rely so much on close ups for their action scenes.  They need to pull back and let us enjoy a fight seeing each move that helps with deciding the battle.

Outside of the close up, this movie brought a lot more to the table than “Clash of the Titans” with character growth, action and comedy.  You got to know a handful of Perseus’s army and felt for them.  One of the characters that returned from the first film was Andromeda, though  with a different actress playing the role. She is now a Queen and one of action, who is right there in the battle, proving she is a Queen worth following.  Also in the crew is another half god, Agenor, son of Poseidon and a disappointment. He was locked away for trying to steal the crown jewels from Andromeda.  Though when Perseus’s comes to him for help, he is freed and goes with them on this dangerous mission.  My personal favorite short added addition to the crew was a fallen god, Hephaestus.  Hephaestus is the one who created three of the great weapons of the gods which were carried by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

This cast of characters made the film so worth watching.  This is a lot different from the first film, as you enjoyed the character interaction, even getting a handful of great laughs.  Each of them had their flaws, strengths, and heart, though what makes a good group of heroes worth cheering on?  The villains, of course!  And this film had them, and their reasons for turning upon the others.

The gods are dying, people have stopped worshiping them.  They’re losing their powers.  Their prisons are failing and some of the gods are scared of what could happen because of this.  While humans souls have somewhere to go when they die, gods become nothing when they die.  They’re dead and gone, this scares both Hades and Ares.  So the two of them team up to free a power that could destroy everything, a power that promises them to keep their life if he’s free, the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the Titan named Kronos.  When Zeus goes down with Poseidon and Ares to try and help make sure that Kronos does not get free, Hades has them attacked as Ares shows that he is betraying his father.  Zeus is caught, as they need him so Kronos can use his powers to get free.

If I had to choose some of my favorite scenes in the movie they both go to the adventure to an island that Perseus and crew had to do.  My favorite fight scene took place on this island as they had to fight some cyclops.  There was not as many close ups during this fight, and the effects were well done.  The way the battle came about was fun, and action packed; handled very well.  And my favorite none action scene happened there too, as Hephaestus is introduced.  A fun scene, as he’s a bit crazy.

Giving this movie a strong plot, strong characters, and great visual effects, I found myself totally into the film.  The only problem I really had was the close ups.  The cast was good with returning actors Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Danny Huston.  They added Édgar Ramírez, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, and Toby Kebbell to complete the cast of characters.  I do have to say that Édgar Ramírez made a great Ares!  A character you that you love to hate.  Each of these actors brought something to the screen that made this film as well as it comes out.

Now to nod my head to the director, Jonathan Liebesman. It is not often that I say I like a sequel better than the first film, though this film is better than “Clash of the Titans” in my opinion.  It gives me great hope for the new “Ninja Turtles” film.  My biggest hope is that there are not as many close ups in “Ninja Turtles” let us see that Ninja Action!  With this film though, the direction of the movie helped bring out the character growth, a well flowing plot line, and giving each of the actors a chance to shine.  Well done, Jonathan.

Of course I can not give all the credit of this film to Jonathan, the writers Dan Mazeau, David Johnson, and Greg Berlanti did a great job coming in to write this film.  All new writers, but they were able to come in and just make this movie come to life following and staying true to the first film.   With their writing and Jonathan’s directing, this film is worth seeing.

A sequel better than the first film, who would of thought?  I heard this from a lot of other people leaving the theater, they enjoyed this film more than the first.  That says a lot about any sequel.  It also says a lot about the creative team behind it.  If you have not seen this film, I do recommend checking it out if you enjoy a good action packed movie!

Have you seen this movie?  Are you looking forward to seeing this movie?  Please let us know your thoughts, hopes, reviews or even ask questions in the comment section below.  Also remember that all email addresses are kept private!  Thanks!