- davidahallnum5
Wrath of the Titans 3D Blu-ray Review
Updated: Apr 8, 2023
MOVIE REVIEW
Wrath of the Titans is a 2012 action adventure film that's the sequel to 2010's Clash of the Titans. Following the events of the first movie, Hades and Ares have concocted a plan to capture Zeus and drain him of his power in order to free the vengeful titan Kronos from the underworld (finally earning the word Titan to be in its title). Meanwhile, Perseus, Zeus's son from the first film, has settled down and decided to live the simple life. He even has a son now. But upon receiving word of Zeus's capture, he's forced to come out of hiding and head back into battle on another deadly mission where fate of gods and mankind on his shoulders.
Wrath of the Titans is about in the same boat with its predecessor. In my review of that film, my consensus was that it delivered the goods in terms of action and high stakes but was mainly just an ok film overall. While I think Wrath does ever so slightly succeed Clash in a couple of minor areas, the bottom line then is still pretty much the bottom line now. And unfortunately, that leaves me here with surprisingly little to talk about.
In terms of story, the formula here remains about the same as the first: high stakes, might Greek characters, mighty Greek characters must find and use mighty Greek objects to defeat mighty Greek enemy. However, that formula is done much more simply this film, which acts as a double edged sword. On one hand, it prevents the story from delving deep into themes such as the relationship between gods and man like the first movie did. And it also at times makes the film feel a little bit unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. But on the other hand, it also irons out a problem I had with the first, which was that the bitter relationship Perseus had with Zeus and the bitter relationship Zeus had with humanity caused some of the actions created by those characters to make little sense. Here, character development is pretty minimal with the focus being primarily on stopping the bad guy and meeting some people along the way, which makes this problem pretty much void.
That doesn't mean the film is devoid of attempts to connect emotionally. The storyline of Perseus and his son is brought up and does lend itself to a few wholesome moments. And the relationship between Perseus and Zeus do work when they need to. But being how the story is more about action, those elements seem to breeze right on by without leaving too much of an impact. Besides that, the dialogue, while serviceable, is still pretty cookie cutter in the vein of the first movie. That being said, it isn't quite as noticeable because like I said before, the story doesn't really deep into some of the thought-provoking, albeit slightly mishandled, themes the first film did. So even if it doesn't come out that well, it doesn't have much to live up in the first place.
So yeah, if you weren't a big fan of the story before, you might not get won over with the story here. However, the saving graces for the Clash of the Titans still translate well to Wrath of the Titans. While Wrath probably isn't as visually stylized as Clash, the action still remains engaging and fun. The CG visual effects are still impressive, and the score is still pretty good for this type of film. The story also lends itself to some creative and interesting Greek places that are well worth seeing in a big budget Hollywood movie. And the actors still give work to make the story seem believable and entertaining.
And that's pretty much all there is to it. In my Clash of the Titans review, I stated this: "whether or not you'll enjoy the film ultimately depends on whether or not you look at it critically or if you take it for what it is." That same sentiment rings true with the sequel. If you plan on dissecting it, you'll find plenty of technical reasons to dismiss it. If you choose to enjoy it in spite of its flaws before you walk in, there's still no guarantee you'll love it. But there's still quite a bit of good action and spectacle to enjoy. Ultimately, the choice is yours. If you have an hour and half to waste, Wrath might not leave you entirely satisfied. But there is a chance it could also end up giving you a solid time.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 3/5
3D REVIEW
To this day, I think the only real reason anyone remembers Clash of the Titans was because of how awful its 3D was. And having seen the film for myself, I can confirm those criticisms are all very valid. While you can blame many-a reasons for that film's terrible 3D, the main reason was that no one cared about making it a 3D film throughout production. It wasn't until movies like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland made obscene amounts of money in the box office, and until mere weeks before Clash was scheduled to come out, that people rushed to put together something that could be labelled as 3D and release it to tag along with that 3D train. Why didn't they do like Superman Returns and convert only a few select segments into the third dimension, putting their resources where they count? That's beyond me.
So why do I bring this up? Well, you'll be glad to know that the exact opposite case is true for Wrath of the Titans 3D. Right from the start of production, 3D was well being talked about. And if Cinemablend is right, there were even plans of having it be shot natively in 3D. Sadly, the plans fell through and they settled on another conversion. But the 3D aspect was still being heavily emphasized on and the film was shot with 3D in mind, the conversion team had much more people on it then before, and they had a lot for time to convert it. I don't know if the results necessarily rival conversions nowadays. But for a 2012 3D conversion, it's very much top-notch, and it certainly makes up for that three-dimensional disaster that preceded it.
For one thing, in-screen, the image is miles deeper, and it's mesmerizing quality is now aided by it's 1.85.1 aspect ratio. No black bars, all depth. Now in some more modest scenes, such as the insides of tents, the images isn't quite as deep and occasionally, you can spot a cardboard cut-out look or some slight warping around a few characters. However, make no mistake. The bad 3D here is in much less quality then the good 3D in Clash of the Titans. Right from the get go, the opening shot gives us the studio logos inside of a cave while the camera pans across the walls containing them. The rocky structure not only goes into the screen a considerable amount, but the composition is top notch with every bumpy detail brought into three-dimensional light. And when the camera leaves the scene, it comes up right next to the wall allowing for some great pop out and a neat view where you're looking down the length of the diagonal wall. These qualities don't let up when the exposition starts and it's aided by cave drawings of the events from the first film. And this time, we get the added bonus of having some flying sparks (but more on that later).
When the live action begin, the depth works very well, putting everybody in their own natural space within the environment. In the modest sequences such as inside tents or when characters are talking with other characters, the composition may not really allow for much in the way of strong or impressive 3D. But the conversion work in these areas is still undeniably very good. Crowds of people no longer "clash" together into a warped view, but are all in their own places along the z-axis. The backgrounds involving mountains and oceans go on for infinity and carry proper shape. The shapes and sizes of the tents are lifelike and well-handled. And even places like the forest have some neat composition and look really well in 3D. The Greek structures and locations, though, are what lend themselves the most to this 3D treatment. In places such as the temple of the gods, the top-down views of statues, the bottom-up views of statues, the shapes of the statues, and the sheer size of the temple itself all make for a captivating 3D viewing. The labyrinth in the second half of the movie knows this and makes excellent usage of 3D with its camera movements and shot compositions. When the maze rearranged itself, the walls, spaces, and shapes of the rooms, and some extra dust all make the scene that much more mesmerizing in the third dimension. And sometimes, it can even get a little claustrophobic. And deep in the underworld, with lava, an enormous cave, and some great cliff shots, what's lies inside earth remains just as interesting to look at as what's above it.
There are two main tracking shots I want to bring up that truly make the 3D special. One is near the beginning of the film when the camera is moving super fast and navigating down great underground trenches as it arrives to show Zeus being held captive in the underworld. And another occurs when a major story character is explaining to the other main characters how they can enter the underworld. In this shot, we are treated to a model of the labyrinth from earlier and its connection to the underworld inside a giant globe. We are then pulled into the globe, we hover over mazes, squeeze through small holes, and end on a top down view of a cliff, which then transforms into a real cliff complete with lava and everything. And see Ares as the camera pans off the cliff to show you the great size and scale of the titan he's about to awaken. Both these shots are incredible and definitely worth the 3D price of admission.
As for action, Wrath of the Titans pulls little punches with the 3D here. When Perseus is fighting off a two headed dragon, the destruction the creature causes, the flying dust, and the presence of a snake make good use of 3D. That being said, there are a couple segments as with the first movie that involve shaky cam, especially near the beginning of the film, that make the eyes feel a bit wonky. Luckily, they're few and far between and the amount of depth present in the shots still make them well worth watching. One highlight comes early on in the film and it occurs when Perseus has a dream about the titan awakening and attacking his hometown. The giant look enormous in 3D glory, the chaos that ensues from the destructive feels intense, and we even get one interesting bottom-up view of bodies falling to the ground. Later in the forest, the swordplay and giant swoops in and out of the screen occur in an engaging 3D fashion. But of course, the best bits of 3D action come near the end when Perseus, his father, and a giant army have to come together to stop Kronos. Here, we get an absolutely enthralling sequence full of flying lava, flying rocks, lightning, characters fighting one another with swords and spears, a person flying though the air amongst dust and debris, a flying Pegasus, and SPOILER WARNING a brief journey following Zeus's bolt as it flies down Kronos's throat. END SPOILERS
Pop outs? Yes. And fortunately, unlike the first movie where almost everything was actively trying to stay in the screen, Wrath has plenty of things almost striving to come out of it. Right from the start, we get those flying sparks in the cave like I mentioned before. But the pop outs are most apparent during the action sequences when we get everything from lightning to swords to giants to lava to rocks to dust to snakes to fantastical creatures to people flying out of the camera. Most of these things, I already mentioned. But even in the more modest scenes, we still get things like statues, people, parts of the labyrinth as it moves by our main characters or the camera, random structures, and more.
Wrath of the Titans isn't probably going to stand up there with the 3D greats, There are just enough caveats to prevent it from being considered "excellent." But for every one thing it gets wrong or mediocrely done, it gets at least twenty other things right. The result is the type of 3D experience that's well worth your time and money, the kind of thing that truly fun 3D popcorn munching action adventure films are made of. Incredible depth, check. Pop outs, check. Minimal 3D distractions, check. It's probably might not impressive much in its more modest moments. But when the action and the adventure starts, the 3D very well takes off. If you're a 3D enthusiast, this one will more than satisfy you. If you only like to dish out on 3D films every now and then, Wrath probably isn't on the same level as something like Kong: Skull Island. But it still serves as a definitely fun 3D film to spend the rainy afternoon with. It's the very thing that Clash of the Titans 3D was expected to be but wasn't.
3D RATING: GREAT
Other sources that review this movie's 3D:
Cinemablend's To 3D or Not Review: https://www.cinemablend.com/new/3D-Or-3D-Buy-Right-Wrath-Titans-Ticket-30201.html
High-Def Digest's Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7028/wrath_titans_3d.html
3D Blu-ray Bunker's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reZovP4VFNg
FINAL THOUGHTS
It's not very often when a movie is both simultaneously better than its predecessor and at the same not be all that great. Well, I guess that's because Wrath of the Titans is mainly more of the same as Clash of the Titans in terms of story and action. There are some things about it from a story standpoint that could've stood to have been developed more and didn't work all that much as a whole. Still, to say I didn't have a fun time watching it would be a bit of a lie. The action was still engaging, the plot had high stakes, and the actors gave pretty decent performances. It doesn't try to aim any higher than your standard popcorn flick. But honestly, because it knows what the audience wants and how to deliver it, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Now for people out there wondering whether or not the 3D Blu-ray is worth picking up, I'm glad to say that not only is Wrath of the Titans a great improvement over the first movie 3D-wise, but it also soars in plenty of areas allowing for maximum 3D thrills you come in expecting from this kind of movie. It's funny how the Titans movies have somehow gotten from delivering a rotten 3D conversion to delivering one almost worthy of the gods. Is the conversion perfect? Not exactly. But the effort from behind the camera and in the conversion room certainly make their way on-screen and make for an immersive, intense experience you won't forget anytime soon. If you're looking for a straightforward sword and sandals movie with great action and equally great 3D, Wrath of the Titans just might be your cup of wine.
BUY IT HERE
OR BUY THE DOUBLE FEATURE WITH IT AND ITS PREDECESSOR (IF YOU HAVE TO)
DID YOU LIKE "WRATH OF THE TITANS" IN 3D
0%Yes
0%No, though the 3D was better here than with the first movie
0%Nah, the first movie's 3D was clearly better