Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans

Dad and son (Perseus and Helius)

Lots of dynamic CG! And I saw it in 2D because I'm not really that cool. The themes of the film were worthy (love conquers all, etc., Dad loves son) but this film won't enhance anyone's knowledge of Greek myths. It just mixes them up. All that action was actually sort of confusing. I guess I'm just used to very clever Greek heroes who analyze the situation and outsmart the villains. There was not a lot of plot revealing dialogues, or broad hints or foreshadowing as to what well-known monster would show up next. I really wanted the Cyclops to say something funny, like "Where's Odysseus?"  And why was there a minotaur in Tantarus? Had it moved from Crete? Why is Perseus so dazed and confused?  Perseus himself  had outsmarted Medusa the last time around, but this time success looks like a huge, impulsive accident.

Pegasus was awesome, sort of a winged Clydesdale. Agenor is the character with the most development and something in the script to work with.  While the other characters may express regret, ask for forgiveness, or state they don't wish to end up in oblivion, they really aren't motivating enough to care about. The spark of personhood that makes a viewer care is only there for Agenor, the ne'er-do-well demi-god with the almost clever lines.

Perseus could have communicated his grief over his lost wife; his extreme concern about his boy. His interest in Andromeda. He is one of the prominent characters in Greek mythology. Maybe the writers should have stuck with the real lit, then the melancholy and mystery of Perseus would have come through to his desperate, manipulative heroism. But it is just not there.


I did like Agenor. Maybe the next film in the series will be about the Navigator. As long as they're making up Greek myths.