Reason Writers at the Movies: Peter Suderman Reviews Wrath of the Titans
Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman reviews Wrath of the Titans in today's Washington Times:
In "Wrath of the Titans," a sequel to the 2010 remake "Clash of the Titans," Ralph Fiennes reprises his role as Hades, mythological ruler of the underworld. Ostensibly an ancient god, he's on a quest to save his own life from extinction at the hands of unbelieving mortals who have stopped praying to him — and in so doing, robbed him of his power as a deity.
"When a god dies," Hades laments, "it isn't death. It's nothing. It's oblivion."
Which happens to describe, almost exactly, the way I felt for the 99 minutes I spent watching the movie.
That same feeling — a mixture of numbness, disinterest and exhaustion — permeates the movie and its characters. Early on, Hades ties his brother Zeus between two rock pillars in order to drain the remaining god-power out of him. It seems to work all too well. As played by Liam Neeson, who is normally majestic in such roles, Zeus doesn't look drained of power so much as tired of being in the movie. About halfway through, he sighs mightily, "Is there no end to this?" As he cried out in pain, all I could think was: I know how he feels.
Mr. Neeson and Mr. Fiennes are both superb actors. Why in heaven are they appearing in dull dreck like this? The gods truly must be crazy.
Read Suderman's Reason.com review of Clash of the Titans here.