MOVIE REVIEW - Wrath Of The Titans

You may remember a couple years ago, Clash Of The Titans came out. "Release The Kracken" and all that. In short, it was a remake of what is considered one of the worst movies of all time.

Now it's Wrath Of The Titans. The same big cast is back, Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes again. And some others. This time hoping to shake the stigma of the last movie that featured little payoff for all of the waiting. Especially after they released the Kracken and he was killed in about 2 minutes.

Now he's dead, and we have another set of problems to deal with. This of course is mythology on steroids. We have the Gods, and the Titans still doing battle. This time, the Gods banished to the underworld are trying to release havoc on the humans by sending down one hideous demon after another. It seems like it's he end of the world. And the world must be saved. That's it in a nutshell. There is more to it, but we can move on.

First, the bad. Much of this looks like a bunch of grown men playing dress-up, and wearing fake beards. And much of this has terribly mundane dialogue. A whole bunch of this is silliness, pure and simple. It looks silly, and has a hard time being taken seriously. At times, it's tough to watch such fine actors, play this thing out in the ridiculous costumes.

But then, there's this. I saw this today in IMAX 3-D. And I recommend you do the same if you are going. No, it doesn't make the silliness better, but it makes this experience a whole lot better. The IMAX 3-D, was simply incredible. Amazingly life like, and right there in front of you. In this sequel there are far more action sequences, a far better end payoff, and it certainly does encompass you in this format. I found myself drawn into the technology, and was far less worried about the bad writing and the childishness being played out on the screen.

Kudos too, to the music. Holy cow was the musical soundtrack great in this flick. It was immensely orchestral in the big theater, and added some foundation or an otherwise baseless movie. Great to see a fresh new face too Rosamund Pike who plays Andromeda. She is well cast, and adds a certain niceness to this piece. She is a star on the rise and I would like to see more of her down the line.

In short, this movie learned from the first one, and didn't repeat some of the main offenses from number one. Which is good, because this could have been number two in more ways than one. For all of it's misgivings, this is far better than the first. There is more to like. But let's not get carried away. This is not great. But the IMAX is. If you've not done that yet, this would be a good flick to do it with. It makes a mediocre movie far more tolerable.

Wrath Of The Titans. If you're going, you owe it to yourself to pony up the extra dough for the IMAX. If not, it's just the same old Titans.