WRATH OF THE TITANS

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Legendary Pictures, a COTT Productions LLC – Furia de Titanes II, A.I.E. Co-production, a Thunder Road Film production, “Wrath of the Titans” is being distributed in IMAX 3D and RealD 3D and 2D worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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“It’s an amazing adventure that takes Perseus to places no mortal has been before and pits him against enemies the likes of which no man has ever faced,” states director Jonathan Liebesman, who embraced the opportunity to work in one of his favorite genres while telling a story about facing your destiny. That is something, he says, “We all have to do eventually, if not quite as heroically, as Perseus. The reason Greek mythology is so timeless is because it’s full of classic archetypes, as well as tragedy, comedy, betrayal, revenge. It’s got it all and it is part of our collective culture. Everyone knows Zeus and Hades; everyone knows what the Underworld is.”

Better than Clash Of The Titans. Much better. Wrath Of The Titans is rich of very involving and well created 3D effects, is full of action. The plot is compact and not extraordinary yet articulated enough to catch the attention from the first to the last second. Several special effects of finest give to the movie a kind of monumental and epic feeeling, although some of these effects can be immediately compared to other ones of well known movies. 

“Wrath of the Titans” also reunites talents from the previous film, including Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis (“The Dark Knight”); Oscar®-nominated prosthetics supervisor Conor O’Sullivan (“The Dark Knight,” “Saving Private Ryan”); and Academy Award®-winning special effects and animatronics supervisor Neil Corbould (“Gladiator”). The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Ben Davis; production designer Charles Wood; Academy Award®-winning editor Martin Walsh (“Chicago,”); and costume designer Jany Temime. The music is composed by Oscar®-nominated Javier Navarrete (“Pan’s Labyrinth”). I mean, this is a well chosen team and indeed, this time, the movie is well worth to be seen more than one time, and, of course, to buy then the dvd will be an eagerly awaited must. Sam Worthington leads the international cast, which includes Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell and Danny Huston, with Academy Award® nominees Ralph Fiennes (“The English Patient”) and Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”). 

Yes, Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson star once again together. “I couldn’t imagine anyone else in these roles, so I was thrilled that they each came back to continue the tale,” director Liebesman says. Fiennes adds, “Liam and I had much more interaction in this film than in the last, and some really strong scenes to play, which we loved. And to be working with a friend is always a good thing.”

Of course, new cast members joined the production in critical roles as well. Particularly welcome to me are the roles of Ares, the embittered son of Zeus, taken on by the Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez, and Agenor, son of Poseidon, played by Toby Kebbell.By meeting Agenor we meet another demigod,  Poseidon’s long lost son,  turned into quite a criminal, rotting in Queen Andromeda’s battlefield jail. Perseus needs him, him  "the Navigator" and his innate feeling for water, sea, and sense of orientation. English actress Rosamund Pike plays  Queen Andromeda, the princess of Argos in the previous film. Andromeda inherited the crown after the death of her parents, the king and queen, and has since become a warrior in defense of her kingdom.  

A decade after his struggle with the monstrous Kraken, the demigod Perseus tries again to live  a normal quite life as fisherman, being remained the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Unfortunately another  struggle for supremacy rages among the gods and between the gods and the Titans. Seriously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of their works. No prayers, no strength. The gloomy dangeon Tartarus too, deep in the underworld, is a work of the gods and  the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon (Danny Huston) are about to escape menacing the world.  Hades, along with Zeus’ godly son Ares,  makes a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus and the Titans’ strength grows stronger as Zeus’ remaining godly powers are taken away.

With the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda, Poseidon’s demigod son Agenor, and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a very dangerous quest into the Underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind, and save the brotherly union of Zeus and Hades, union and reciprocal forgiveness which will be refounded but at a very high cost.

Needless to say, the most intriguing factor in Perseus`quest is his struggle with the unleashed monsters. Some scenes of fight are really memorable and acrobatic. The multi-headed and fire-breathing Chimera, with dragon-like wings and a s snake’s head at the end of its tail, is just the first of a cool series of fantastic creatures represented by   the one-eyed Cyclops, an army of double-bodied Makhai, the  Minotaur, and Kronos, the  imprisoned Titan (and father of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon) who is on the way to  bring hell down on the earth.

“There’s truly a smorgasbord of action to be had in this movie,” says visual effects supervisor and second unit director Nick Davis, who also worked on the first film.

 Concerning Chimera, "the creature was primarily produced via CG, but the damage it created was a combination of visual and special effects. Neil Corbould, special effects supervisor on both this and the prior film, explains, “In order to keep the audience guessing ‘Was that real? Was that CG?’ I find it’s better to marry the computer elements with practical ones, for a more seamless end result. It allows the atmosphere you generate—in this case, bits of ash or other light materials—to interact with the actors as well. So the destruction brought about by the Chimera was achieved on set, and enhanced later by the visual effects team.”

“The Chimera descends on the village like a meteor and immediately starts ripping it apart,” Davis says. “There’s a huge pyrotechnical explosion, then the ground starts to crack, followed by a very elaborate, 400-foot trench blast that snakes its way through the town before blowing up a house and finally erupting out of a building. Then it really gets going.”

The war comes to a climax as the impressive, giant Kronos bursts free begins to attack.

“Kronos created the world from chaos, and he wants to return the world to that state,” Liebesman notes. “What I love about him is that he reminds me of an atomic bomb when he hits the screen—this massive explosion with tons of volcanic debris flying off of him and setting fire to everything in his path.”

Davis adds, “Kronos has forever been this unstable, volatile force that the humans have unwittingly been sitting on, and as soon as Zeus’ strength fully empowers him, he erupts: rocks cascade off of him, the prison walls start to collapse and lava bubbles up from underneath.”

I like to underline that you will love the character Hephaestus, the forger of Zeus’ thunderbolt, Hades’ pitchfork and Poseidon’s trident which together build  the Spear of Triam, the only weapon that can kill Kronos. Hephestus as architect of the Titans’ prison Tartarus adds a formidable element to the movie. His irony is so delightful as well as his companion: a mechanical owl. 

“Bill brought such a breath of fresh air to Hephaestus, as well as a sense of fun and playfulness to the set,” producer Johnsen remarks. “He was so lovely and he did so much with the character to express the humor in his otherwise serious scenes.

All in all, action apart, the movie seems and actually is focussed on the duality father-son. I think it is more than this, it is the representation of the "mythology" of the  sun god(s) and their enemy.

8/10

Photografic gallery in no particular order of scene.  © 2012 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. It's up to you to go and see the movie. Then you will know to which scene the photos belong

review  by dalia f. carla di giacomo    + Production Notes

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