Wrath of the Titans

Sure, if I wanted to spit on it, I could go into any minute of runtime and pull out at least five things to criticize. However, the entire time Liebesman follows the rule "I’m not very good at this, but at least it will be noisy and fast," not letting down for even a brief moment. This can't be said of his predecessor, so no more long yawns or bleeding eyes. Worthington is fine, but the divine lineup is simply divine. PS: I would very much like to see some more serious stuff from this director. (06/13/2012)

Enemies swarm one after another and Jonathan Liebesman lets all kinds of mud piles explode, but the charm somewhat fades. Sam Worthington's fierce expression could easily carry even a much weaker film, but this time around he has to take on a bit of routine, where the unforgettable battles like the scorpions from the first installment are missing. Chimera or settling the score with Kronos are still enjoyable, though on the other hand, the Cyclops and the Minotaur partly feel like forced attractions that the producers insisted should not go missing from an ancient fantasy saga. When even Rosamund Pike cannot fully sustain the role of the recast Andromeda (in a performance that is unnecessarily distinctive and incomprehensibly different), the final impression is unexpectedly sad. Yet where the creators redeem themselves is in their fearlessness in dealing with superior beings. I did not expect such a harsh body count, and because I don't insist on adhering to Eduard Petiška's stories (it's not history, but mythology), I remained pleasantly surprised at least by that. The feeling that this vengeful campaign against the Titans could have been done a class better, however, remained. (06/25/2012)

Definitely better than the first one. The technical prowess of this sequel is undeniable, especially when it comes to the work with sound and the very clear action (although I expected more based on the trailer). At the same time, the action scenes are very inventive and, in some moments, quite unconventional. What kills it are the boring dialogues, the overused plot structure of dividing tasks, getting acquainted with the main mission, going somewhere to get something, and destroying the main villain. Along the way, someone occasionally helps, someone dies, and so on. Essentially, it's sterile boredom. But thanks to the visuals and Worthington’s solid performance, it's passable. Finally, the 3D actually works as 3D and it's not just for the sake of it, another improvement compared to the first installment. (04/28/2012)

I'd love to be a screenwriter in Hollywood and write stuff like this (there were four of them in this film), it would be easier to make a living than collecting welfare. It's even dumber than the previous one, which is to be expected. The only thing I wonder about this crap is how many times Neeson and Fiennes said to each other on set, "God, what kind of crap did we get ourselves into again." (06/14/2012)

More than just decent action and a feast of special effects for the eyes. Mr. Lava is sufficiently destructive and blobs of molten stuff that fly off him when he waves his arms about wipe whole cities off the map with apologetic matter-of-factness. The other monsters are also done very nicely. Keep up the good work. The story is roughly as dumb as the lamer episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess from my the days of my youth, but thanks to a bigger budget the whole thing looks a lot better. Liam Neeson is cool again, Sam also tries hard (with this screenplay, nobody has much acting to do) and Rosamund Pike is a slightly prettier Andromeda than the last one. The romantic storyline doesn’t work, and schizophrenic Perseus, always talking to himself, doesn’t instill much trust... but there we go. The action is super and I’ll certainly play Wrath a couple more times. (06/15/2012)