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It’s as though Liebesman relies heavily on his effects to inject excitement into Wrath of the Titans as the rest is a confusing and often eye-torturous visual muddle that smacks of the hell-fire visuals of Lord of the Rings – and you expect Frodo to pop up at any second and save the day too.
In the sequel to Clash of the Titans, and a decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, demigod Perseus (Worthington), son of god Zeus (Liam Neeson), wants to live a quiet fisherman’s life with his son, Helius (John Bell). But a struggle for supremacy between the gods and the Titans and a weakening deity devotion from humanity sees a deadly alliance form between Perseus’s uncle Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and estranged brother Ares (Édgar Ramírez) to resurrect their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon (Danny Huston).
After Poseidon’s death, Zeus is captured and his godly powers are siphoned to bring Kronos back from the dead. It is down to Perseus to save his father, the gods and humanity, with help from his wayward cousin, demigod Agenor (Toby Kebbell), Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and toolmaker to the gods Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), before the Titans’ strength grows stronger.
The sequel is all about its visual glory, and is perfectly suited to an IMAX screen for grand, eye-goggling effect. The downside to this is Liebesman’s choice of frenetic camerawork (by Ben Davis) in the first attack scene to depict utter chaos sets off a bout of motion sickness which has you playing catch-up afterwards as your sight attempts to return to normal. It’s near impossible to decipher any detail at this moment, which is a shame for getting a sense of the terror to come – and there are some interesting, two-headed beasts sent from the underworld to attack, but you have little time to register exactly what Perseus and townsfolk are up against before careering into the next shot.
For all its obvious faults, Wrath is still highly entertaining though, because of the latter and the silliness and camp factor. It’s a lesson in producing effects for the even bigger IMAX screen too – and when is best and best not to use frenetic camerawork and choppy editing values. Expect an action-stuffed 3D extravaganza with very little subtext to it – minus eight-legged horses and double vision of the 2010 film, and you’ll come away with a smile on your face but strained eyeballs and a queasiness in the belly.
[Rating:2/5]