Wrath of the Titans

WRATH OF THE TITANS (Jonathan Liebesman, 2012)

Although Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), could be so much more than a fisherman and widowered father, he is content to pass his days in this humble manner in WRATH OF THE TITANS.  Family problems force him to abandon the low-key life he has chosen, though.

Zeus comes to Perseus with a dire warning that his imprisoned father, Kronos, is becoming more powerful and may soon break out of Tartarus.  Perseus doesn’t want to get involved, but when Zeus is taken captive in the underground prison by his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes), he accepts that he must again come to the rescue of those mortal and, for the time being, immortal.

Joining Perseus on this adventure are the battle-tested queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and Poseidon’s son, the mischievous demigod Agenor (Toby Kebbell).  Along the way they must fend off many monsters, fight Perseus’s half-brother Ares (Édgar Ramírez), and break into Tartarus.

Even if it isn’t saying much, WRATH OF THE TITANS stands as a minor improvement to its predecessor.  The various CGI beasts that attack Perseus and crew boast inventively nasty designs. The fearsome Kronos resembles a stories-tall nightmare eruption from hell in vaguely humanoid form.  Ancient times are brought alive in an eye-popping digital world of gods, demigods, and men.

Director Jonathan Liebesman previously helmed the visually incoherent BATTLE LOS ANGELES, which was my pick for last year’s worst film, but in WRATH OF THE TITANS he manages the action scenes with a bit more patience than what has become the standard practice for chaotically shot and edited blockbusters.  To satisfy my taste he could still slow it down a bit more to allow for greater appreciation of all the computer wizardry involved in the action.  Nevertheless, at least this is a step in the right direction.

WRATH OF THE TITANS works not to take itself too seriously and hints that something of substance resides between the setpieces.  As Hephaestus, who possesses a map into and out of Tartarus, Bill Nighy provides welcome comic relief.  The screenplay identifies potentially rich thematic terrain with gods losing their strength because the people are  becoming more secular and praying less to them.  That exploring a contemporary theological concern is treated as fallow ground within popcorn entertainment comes as no surprise yet adds to the list of the film’s missed opportunities.

The trip into the Labyrinth ranks as the biggest and most bewildering chance that WRATH OF THE TITANS blows.  Rather than exploring the untold challenges and mysteries within it, the trip through the maze is brief and mostly uneventful. Like much of WRATH OF THE TITANS, these scenes are navigated with the dispassionate and ceaseless forward momentum inherent in following and completing GPS directions.  Perseus gets where he needs to go, but his journey contains as much excitement as there comes from being told to drive straight for a hundred miles.

Grade: C-

Terminator Salvation

TERMINATOR SALVATION (McG, 2009)

TERMINATOR SALVATION picks up the series with John Connor (Christian Bale) at the forefront in the war against the machines. Set in 2018, fourteen years after the Judgement Day brought on by Skynet, the scrappy survivors battle the robots trying to purge all humans from the planet. Of particular interest to them is Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the teen destined to be Connor's father.

While the computers hunt for Reese, the resistance believes they have found a signal that will destroy the machines. Connor's broadcasts and mythic status give him claims to a leadership role, and he demands to be the one to carry out the mission.

Meanwhile, death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) wakes up in this future. The last thing he remembers is being prepped for execution fifteen years earlier. Wright's motives and purpose are of great concern to Connor, but eventually he has no choice but to trust him as they team up to rescue Reese and hopefully deliver the crushing blow to the Skynet headquarters.

TERMINATOR SALVATION boasts impressive setpieces that provide eye-popping visual scale, but the story so badly lacks scope that the film feels small and, ultimately, inconsequential.

The killer machines are fast and frightening. The film is jammed with action, something that McG and the kinetic camera capture with dazzling technique. TERMINATOR SALVATION delivers the goods as an action and effects extravaganza, but after awhile the man versus machine mayhem tends to blur into an endless loop. The human characters are severely underwritten, a quality that comes to bear during the beats when the film pauses for exposition.

Practically since birth John Connor has carried the weight of knowing his role in this war, so Bale's stern performance suits the character, even if it's as one-note as the rest of TERMINATOR SALVATION. The screenplay hampers him with little to do but bark at everyone in the vicinity.

Bryce Dallas Howard must have been cast as his wife Kate solely because her red hair keeps the continuity with Claire Danes, who held the role in 2003's TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES. For a franchise that has offered strong female leads, Kate Connor's near-invisibility in TERMINATOR SALVATION is a disappointment at best. It also means a good actress is underutilized, but so it goes in a film enthralled with computer-generated effects to the point where the humanity is cut out, ironically enough.

Ignoring the fact that the advertising reveals Marcus Wright's secret, the film's bungled introduction of the character leaves little doubt about his intended role in this war. Without any questions as to why Marcus turns up when he does, where's the drama and tension? Then there's the time travel element that makes one wonder if all of the events in the film's universe are predetermined, although that path is better left untraveled lest the fourth TERMINATOR be rendered irrelevant.

TERMINATOR SALVATION is fitfully entertaining in its unceasing futuristic warfare, but if the characters are fighting for humanity's survival, they've already lost on one front. The computers have taken over the filmmaking.

Grade: C