The first thing that needs to be said about Wrath Of The Titans is that, even though far from perfect, it is leagues ahead of the ill-considered Clash Of The Titans remake that spawned it.
There's even a far more respectful cameo from Bubo The Mechanical owl (from the Harryhausen original Clash Of The Titans) that I took as a discrete apology for the horrors of the first movie.
A decade after the events of Clash reluctant hero, single-parent and demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) is called out of retirement for one last job - his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) - has been captured by an alliance of Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez).
They have struck a deal with Kronos (mightiest of the imprisoned Titans and father of Zeus and Hades) to hold onto their power during the twilight of the gods.
Perseus teams up with Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and the rogue Agenor (Toby Kebbel), who happens to be the son of Poseidon, and embarks on a quest to free his imprisoned father.
This involves our heroes tracking down Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) - even though Andromeda, a Grecian Queen has no idea who Hephaestus is (!) - on a mysterious island overrun by Cyclops.
Bill Nighy turns in a totally bonkers performance as the weaponsmith of the gods, seemingly channelling Monty Python, but he directs the party of adventurers to the entrance to the labyrinth that leads to Tartarus, where Zeus is being held.
Yes, our heroes are going on a dungeon crawl!
Even though, ultimately, the labyrinth is a bit of a red herring (as everyone makes it through by luck and chance in the end anyway), it's still very impressive visually and certainly inspirational for those gamers who like their underworlds' mythic.
The gods of Wrath Of The Titans are treated like comic book superheroes (with some of the fight sequences reminiscent of big screen Marvel or DC outings), and there's a solid message buried in there that mankind can get on just as well without "gods", the labyrinth (as I've said) looks incredible and some of the monsters are very well realised (the Cyclops are particularly strong, even if the random four-armed, two-headed, demon-things that precede Kronos in the final battle are a bit blah).
There's a bizarre romance that's pretty much on a par with Faramir and Eowyn in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings and a mild case of cheese involving Perseus' son Helius (John Bell) - but the main thing we come to a film like this for is monsters and fighting and there it delivers.
As eye-candy, Wrath Of The Titans is a treat - and it won't make your brain ache like Clash Of The Titans.
While the story may have very little basis in mythology (it's basically generic fantasy fare, but there's nothing wrong with that) this is a decent rainy afternoon movie for those who like this kind of B-movie.
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