Vic’s Review – “Wrath of the Titans”

In this sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans, heroic demigod Perseus ventures into Hades itself to take on the ascendant Titans, potent enemies of the gods who have hatched a scheme to imprison Zeus in the depths of the underworld.

Victor –

“Wrath of the Titans”

7 out of 10

I must commend director Jonathan Liebesman for delivering a quick, fun and frivolous mythology based action film that indeed entertains in that weird “I’m not expecting Ben Hur” kind of way. I was actually prepping to write a really ass chewing review for this film. But I must admit (maybe it could have been that I had a belly full of delicious Italian food when I saw this)  I rather enjoyed the movie. I am a fan of the first Charles Schneer “Clash” film and the re-make was kinda “Meh” for me so under that umbrella I had figured it wouldn’t be hard to continue the crapfest they started with the re-make.

“Wrath” suffers from having a bit of a hokey Father/Son premise (Perseus now has a tyke of his own) but it makes up for it in execution, awesome visual effects and action, action, action. Oh and Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are in it so that is always a plus even when other characters could be dull. The movie overall is very polished, and easy to watch. That works in it’s favor. “Clash” was a bit shaky and over frenetic in it’s action and the CGI was hit or miss. Not so with “Wrath.” The film’s CGI and action set pieces are leaps and bounds better than the first installment. Most notably during the Chimera battle and the resurrection of Cronos.  Be warned though, there are some fast cuts used here and there but they do not detract from the experience. Hades underworld is impressive to behold and the Cyclops sequence is harrowing.

Sam Worthington is believable and better settled in as Perseus even though his delivery at times feels stilted. He excels during the action scenes. He jumps, ducks, rolls and cries aloud with a very capable energy not seen as much anymore with other CGI drenched films. As I mentioned before, Neeson and Fiennes are great to watch and I even enjoyed how they relished the roles. Especially after Zeus exclaims, “Let’s have some fun!”

Rosamund Pike as Andromeda is hardcore in the battles sequences and very sexy in the quieter scenes when she plays the stout leader of her army or against Worthington. Agenor played by Toby Kebbell is the cliched comedy relief but he never goes too way over the top and is quite entertaining and precise. Bill Nighy as Hephaestus steals some scenes away from the rest of the cast. His turn in this film is refreshing.  All in all the cast endures and they make the best with what is given to them.

“Wrath of the Titans” is a quick, explosive and action filled fantasy film that never makes any qualms about it being just a visual treat as opposed to being a Shakespearean play. Enjoy it for what it is, folks and I think you’ll have some fun watching some action packed CGI goofiness.

Amazing Spider-Man trailer leaked

Kyle

As some of you may know, I’m a huge Spider-Man fan. He’s my favorite comic book character in the Marvel universe. He’s a smart and misunderstood kid who gains superhuman abilities and, after an incident involving his uncle, tries to make the best of it, as hard at times as it can be. Even as Spider-Man, he was never is well liked or trusted.

I was not disappointed from what I saw after watching the trailer. Marc Webb is definitely coming at this with a different approach. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect seeing as he had just finished “500 Days of Summer.”

The trailer began with Parker’s parents going away. I’m not sure if this essential to the story, a flashback or a brief introduction but I’m really hoping it’s essential to the story. None of the three films went into Parker’s past with his parents but from the comics, there’s a lot there. Anyway, there are cuts of him in school, at home, and of course him going to where he meets his fate. In those images, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is wearing a lab coat, which pretty much shows they’re being consistent in the comics with her pursue of science (unlike in SM3); she is also the first love of Peter.

The one thing that threw me off, though, was at the end of the clip. Yesterday I read on First Showing that Webb was trying to do as many effects physically as opposed to CG; which took them months to capture. What threw me off was the clip was a first-person shot of Webhead swinging about NYC, obviously using lots of CG. I’m guessing this is one of the few shots that they had to succumb to using CG. It is heartening to read a director trying to avoid CG on their film (didn’t Lucas give Jackson shit for not using CG in LotR?). Spider-Man is probably the worst superhero character to shoot a movie with regards to trying to avoid a lot of CG because of his abilities and all the web-slinging he does.
Even though I am getting sick of the reboots, remakes, prequels, sequels, and adaptations, Spider-Man is one I will never get sick of… wait, I said the same thing prior to seeing SM3. Oh shit. Let’s cross our fingers for no SM3, you guys.

Bill and Ted 3 update; Most excellent

Matt

We told you before that Keanu Reeves was talking about a third installment of the Bill and Ted franchise — which I was a big fan of as a heavy metal loving kid.

Apparently, co-star Keanu Reeves wasn’t joking. He updated the story this week with MTV, telling the former music television station that a script is in the works and is weeks away.

“I believe the writers are six weeks away from a draft,” he told MTV on Monday, adding with a laugh, “No pressure, guys!”

Back in September, Reeves dished nothing but wacky jokes about what the project might actually look like — a 3-D black-and-white sequel co-directed by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Werner Herzog? — but this time around the 46-year-old actor gave us some meaty clues about the film’s potential plot (albeit with a few caveats).

“I know a little bit. But I don’t know — the fellas went off and cooked it up,” he explained. “I don’t know what happened when they put the elements together.”

Bill and Ted had two films, “Excellent Adventure” and “Bogus Journey” that were both successful films and a Saturday morning cartoon in the late 80s and early 90s. It featured a fun supporting role by George Carlin and lots of unusual and hilarious historical figures, like Joan of Arc, Beethoven and Abraham Lincoln. Bill and Ted, who have a band called Wyld Stallions, are lousy in school and don’t amount to much. They get a visitor from the future in Rufus, played by Carlin, who travels in a phone booth (who uses those anymore?). Rufus tells them their music will one day change the world, but they need to pass their history test. It sends them on a crazy adventure through time, where they collect historical figures for a presentation. The sequel sends the two boys to hell, where they meet Grim Reaper, played in hilarious fashion by William Sadler.

So, in the sequels, you never know what song changed the world. Apparently the third installment will delve into that storyline.

This film could work if it doesn’t take itself too seriously (which may be hard to do). They’ve been bringing back every franchise, whether it’s from TV or the silver screen. Why not bring back Bill and Ted? At worst, it sucks as much as all the other sequels of late.

Zombieland 2

matt

Zombieland was an enjoyable flick — a treat to zombie movie lovers everywhere. Two Academy Award-nominated actors, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, had great chemistry in a movie that balanced humor and levity with horror and action. Bill Murray’s cameo was fantastic and really made the movie. Having Emma Stone to look at didn’t hurt, either.

So why not a sequel? This has the makings to be a fun franchise. It’s not like there hasn’t been zombie sequels before.

Eisenberg told MovieWeb.com that Zombieland 2 is being scripted and will likely be in 3D. I hate 3-D, but a zombie flick could be fun. Here what Eisenberg said: “I believe they are going to shoot it in 3D. If they do it. Which will be interesting for the glasses industry. They are just starting to write the script. Maybe they haven’t even started that yet. I don’t know where my character will go. The first movie was fun, though. I can’t imagine the second one won’t be good.”

However, co-star Harrelson told TotalFilm.com he’s not sure making a sequel is the “right thing to do.”

On the first movie, he said: “I didn’t even want to read the script… Then as it turns out, I read the script and I thought it was phenomenal, really funny…” he said. “Usually, if I theoretically reject it, I’m right, but this one I was dead wrong. And it might be the first movie I do a sequel to.”

When we asked if the follow-up is definitely happening, Harrelson said: “I’m sure it will happen if everyone does it, but I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do. … It’s one thing to do it when it came out real good and it made a lot of people laugh, but then to do a sequel… 99 out of 100 are worse by a lot. So I don’t know. … “I don’t feel like a sequels guy.”

Will the Next Spider-Man Be ‘Amazing?’

Kyle

Sony Pictures released another photo this week of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, a release date of July 3, 2012 and the title “The Amazing Spider-Man.” As you can tell from the photo above, looks like Parker will actually be making his web shooters like in the comics.

From what I’ve seen with photos and have been reading, looks like the new-new Spider-Man is going to probably be like the upcoming “X-Men: First Class” in that there’s a young cast, the crew seem like they really want to stay true to the comic, and it’s a very recent reimagining of the previous franchise. Spider-Man Turd was horrendous and it took me three trips to the movies to convince the Spider-Man fanatic side of me that it was bad.

After some extensive Googling, I can’t seem to find if Garfield, cast in the title role, has signed a contract for three films. Luckily, he doesn’t want to be stained as Spider-Man and wants to remain a respectable, working actor who doesn’t do huge blockbusters. If he really means this, he might want to be careful what he chooses to take on after “The Amazing Spider-Man” comes out as he already was in the very successful “The Social Network.” We all know, even if it’s terrible like SM3, it still will make box office bucks.