Wrath of the Titans (12A)

The squeal to the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans appears out of this first film’s success. The Director, Jonathan Liebesman, the relatively inexperienced director of Battle Los Angeles, has an extra 25 million dollars to play with, making a massive budget of 150 million. Like a Titan rising from a mighty fire it lurches into life but is consumed by the over use of visual effects and poor make up. It strings together a mish-mash of scenes based upon sections of the first film, using the same characters and similar ideas. 
 
Sam Worthington as Perseus and Liam Neeson as Zeus seem to be on auto pilot and largely stone like as if Medusa had been on set. The interesting Danny Huston, Poseidon, is quickly expelled, and the excellent Ralph Fiennes fails to impress partly because he appears in his theatrical Harry Potter mode. Rosamund Pike appears as Andromeda and here we feel she may be a foil for Worthington’s often shocked expression but she is not allowed to share out her class and we lose track of her.

The main problem with Wrath of the Titans is the plot; find the very powerful weapon and kill the angry mega god. There are no twists or surprises and it really lacks the mythical magic of the original 1980s film. We do not come to know Perseus’s son, played by John Bell, who had an acting break by winning a Blue Peter competition, or really feel that we understand much at all about the characters. 

Having said that if you love special effects then there are some great examples here, especially the two headed hell hound which Perseus single-handedly dispatches. This aspect of the film must have been the reason why it grossed over 300 million dollars.

42/100

Battleship (12A)

This all out, full steam ahead, family film directed by actor turned director Peter Berg suffers from an identity crisis. The reference to the board game Battleships is misleading as it could imply a ship vs. ship situation when in fact it heavily focuses on something completely alien to the board game...aliens. There is no modern wartime epic, country against country, and instead you will find an intergalactic conflict set sometime in the near future when the human race has developed a technology which allows them to beam a message light years into space. This has a knock on effect of calling forth an aggressive humanoid species who hope to take control of our beautiful green globe.

Standing in their way, other than thousands of tonnes of battleship, are the brothers Hopper. We meet the older responsible Commander Stone, Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood) and younger irresponsible Lieutenant Alex, played by the roguish, rising star Taylor Kitsch (John Carter). Kitsch spends much of his time wrestling with his love for Sam, Brooklyn Decker, the Admiral’s (Liam Neeson) daughter and the need to take responsibly and kick some alien but. Sometimes he carries it off at other times you let him get away with it. Then the action takes over and with an edge of humour it really works.

This film has been designed to be family entertainment, in an explosive way, as well as throwing in some subtle references to a popular board game when they have to use beacon readouts to pin point the enemy when their radar is knocked out. But let us not get away from the fact that it is a big and bold Science Fiction movie and that for some shameful reason this has tried to be covered up. This trend has come from the recent renaming of ‘John Carter from Mars’ to just ‘John Carter’. This film is a celebration of big screen action and yes it won’t win any Oscars but it is a lot of fun and one that children all over the world will be allowed to watch again and again because, let’s face it, the parents won’t mind.

79/100

The Grey (15)

Liam Neeson, who is enjoying huge popularity after is surprise hit Taken, heads up this bleak drama slash action film about a group of oil workers and low downs who crash in the Alaskan snowy wastes with no hope of salvation. If the cold and starvation aren't enough to deal with they are being hunted by a pack of very angry wolves and have to fight for their lives against these impossible odds. 

Aside from the motley crew of characters the landscape is very much a central figure in this tail, the bleak savannas are beautiful but total encompassing as the blizzard sucks in the solitary bodies. Director Joe Carnahan uses a number of devices to increase the tension. Powdery snow instantly starts to cover exposed victims and although at times bloody the harshness of a scene is dampened by the instant frosting creating a sense that there are two assailants work at work here; wolves and the cold.

Dermot Mulroney (Zodiac) plays Talget and Dallas Roberts plays Hendrick but they have very little character development to sink their teeth into and the only character who stands out other than Neeson himself is the agitated Frank Grillo as Diaz who hams up the role in a successful attempt to break up the monotony as the film slowly moves along.

This is largely the problem with The Grey. At times we have the slow tragic events drawn out and because the characters have not connected with the viewer it is very difficult to sustain an interest. Yet the wolves themselves are savage and mystical, keeping you entranced when they appear and the land demonstrates an awesome nature which is captivating.

62/100