The Wrath of the Titans (2012)

More serious scholars of Greek mythology find a lot to hate in these big-screen adaptations of classic myths, but for the easygoing audience, it's mindless fun.    

Eight years have passed since Perseus (Sam Worthington) defeated the Kraken and chose to live among mortals rather than follow in his father's footsteps. His wife has passed into the afterlife, leaving him to bring up their son. But atheism amongst the people has rid them of most of the gods, and unbeknown to him, the underworld is rife with strife... for Zeus (Liam Neeson) has been captured and imprisoned in the immortal prison for the gods. Hades (Ralph Fiennes) hopes to barter his brother's power in exchange for his own survival, to their tyrannical Titan father, long since imprisoned. Together with the beautiful Princess Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and his feckless cousin, another demi-god Agenor (Toby Kebbell), Perseus must travel into the underworld to rescue Zeus.

There is not a lot of plot to this film but the momentum propels it forward. Its weaknesses are the same as in the original -- not a lot of character development, particularly among the gods. There are some rather large holes in the logic behind the script, such as how the masses have ceased praying to the gods, and why some of the gods are powerful enough to "end" other gods. (Is it because they are still prayed to, or because they are younger?) Hades switches sides frequently, although it is cool to see Zeus and he team up together to fight a common enemy toward the end. The casting of Rosamund Pike brings a nice clarity to the group and she has great chemistry with her costar. Other familiar faces pop in and out, as well as gods that appear and are just as quickly destroyed or banished. There's also some neat glimpses into creatures from Greek mythology -- one eyed giants, fire monsters, and so forth.

Admittedly, the script is very thin but the movie isn't professing to be much more than an action film hinged around mythological aspects (and most of them are so far from the original myth as to be laughable). It never tries to be anything more than it is, and thus gives off no false sense of self-importance. It's simply fun, and now and again that's a nice thing to sit through. The religious element is unusual, a god system that relies entirely on worship to remain effective -- without the worship of the masses, the gods can be killed and crumbled into dust. Though much is made of Perseus's demi-god status, no time is given to explanations about the imprisonment of Zeus and Hades' father, nor his origins.

If you want something to sink your teeth into, look elsewhere. If you want a mindless couple of hours of pure entertainment watching some of the finest actors in the business ham it up as gods, set out to experience the Wrath of the Titans.