Wrath of the Titans

image for Wrath of the Titans

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Not suitable under 10, not recommended 10-13, PG to 15 (Violence; Scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Wrath of the Titans
  • a review of Wrath of the Titans completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 April 2012.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes
Children aged 10 -13 Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes
Children 13-15 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Wrath of the Titans
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Fantasy violence
Length: 99 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

This sequel is set a decade after the events of the film Clash of the Titans. Perseus (Sam Worthington), demigod and son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) is now living the quiet life of a fisherman with his ten-tear-old son Helius (John Bell). However, Perseus’s quiet life is cut short when Zeus pays a visit, announcing that he needs Perseus’s help. Apparently, as a result of a lack of devotion by mortals, the magical powers of the gods are weakening along with the forces keeping the Titans and their leader Kronos (a giant fire creature) restrained in the underworld prison of Tartarus.

After being betrayed by his own son Ares (Edgar Ramirez) and the god Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Zeus is imprisoned in Tartarus.  There Zeus’s power is slowly leached away by Kronos, who will soon be powerful enough to destroy the world. After learning of his father’s fate, Perseus along with Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and the demigods Agenor (Toby Kebbell) and Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) set off to rescue Zeus from his underworld prison, and retrieve three magical weapons which Perseus must use kill Kronos and save the world.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Greek mythology;betrayal; immortality and mortality

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

Wrath of the Titans contains intense sequences of fantasy violence, including sword and knife fights, fist fights, eruptions and explosions, and rampaging fire-breathing monsters. The depiction of blood and gore is kept to a minimum with death blows, most of the time, hidden off camera. Examples include:

  • A giant fire-breathing two-headed creature erupts from the ground, spewing out giant fire rocks that explode as they hit village houses causing mayhem and destruction with villagers hurled in all directions. The creature spews out liquid fire that kills a man kneeling on the ground. Perseus attacks the creature jumping onto its back and stabbing it repeatedly in the neck with a sword. Perseus, while holding onto a chain wrapped around the creatures neck, is dragged behind the creature and slammed into walls and houses. The creature is killed when it becomes engulfed in its own flames.
  • Perseus has some small bloodied cuts to his face and wounds on his shoulder and back (minimal blood is depicted). A woman using thick yarn and a large needle stitches the wounds together.
  • Perseus and a small group are attacked by two giant Cyclops wielding large daggers and tree stumps. One giant uses his tree stump to batter a man sending the man flying through the air and against a tree. One Cyclops attempts to squash Perseus with the palm of his hand but Perseus uses his sword to impale the giant’s hand and a large tree then falls on the Cyclops’ head knocking him unconscious.
  • Zeus is chained between two pillars with his arms outstretched. His son Ares brutally punches his father in the face and stomach.
  • Ares impales a man on his sword, liftshim off the ground and hurls him through the air.He stabs a second man and bashes a third man to the ground with a club. Ares punches one woman and then stabs a second woman in the stomach with his sword.
  • Perseus fights a Minotaur type monster. The monster repeatedly charges Perseus and knockshim to the ground.  Perseus stabs the monster with a wooden stake; we see some blood.
  • Ares hurls a tridentat Zeus, impaling him in the back.
  • There is a huge battle between a Greek army, a titan and numerous two-headed demons. There are mushroom cloudexplosions and exploding balls of fire which set fire to soldiers, hurling them through the air.
  • Soldiers are slashed indiscriminately with swords and a demon is impaled on a wooden stake. Zeus and Hades hurl bolts of lightning and and Perseus rides a winged horse into a monster’s mouth and down its throat.
  • In a brutal fight between Ares and Perseus the two men punch each other in the head, knee each other in the chest, twist each other’s arms and throw each other through the air. Perseus is dragged through stone pillars, his head is smashed into a stone and he is repeatedly kicked in the chest. Perseus stabs Ares with a wooden stake and then impales Ares with a metal spear, with Ares turning to stone and then dust.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of eight, including the following:

  • There are numerous scary creatures such asa giant two-headed creature with one head spewing out flammable liquid while the second head ignites the liquid. The creature has horned heads and mouths full of large sharp fangs while the tip on its tail resembles the head of a hissing cobra; we see the fanged filled mouth of the cobra-like head lash out in a menacing and threatening manner. There is also a gigantic Titan that has gigantic flaming lava dripping arms and hands that lash out causing massive explosions and fiery destruction and three frightening and threatening giant Cyclops monsters that roar in a beast-like manner and wield ripped up tree stumps as clubs and large daggers
  • In one perilous scene we see Perseus and a small group travelling through a three dimensional maze, the maze has moving walls and floors than nearly crush Perseus and his group to death.
  • Several scenes depict the underworld with pits of fire and scary looking fire-breathing demons. The 3D effect of the film at times makes the creatures appear to jump out of the screen.
  • Three separate scenes depict the death of gods; their skin takes on a grey appearance, then they turn to stone and crumble away to dust.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children in this age group are also likely to be scared by some of the above-mentioned images.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children in this age group are also likely to be scared by some of the above-mentioned images.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Younger children in this age group may also be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes.

Product placement

None of concern

Sexual references

The film contains one low-level sexual reference.

  • We hear an elderly man (Hephaestus) telling a younger man (Agenor) that Poseidon taught him how to seduce mermaids.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • In one scene, Agenor gestures to Perseus to make a romantic advancement towards Andromeda, resulting in Perseus passionately kissing Andromeda on the lips.
  • Women wearing brief clothing

Use of substances

None of concern

Coarse language

The film contains occasional mild obscenities and some mild put-downs. Examples include:

  • go to hell, idiotic, bastard of a son, bloody, snivelling dog

In a nutshell

Wrath of the Titans is an action fantasy film which is likely to attract adolescent males while being scary for younger teens and children. The film contains frequent violent action, violence and computer generated creatures and monsters that may disturb children, although the depiction of blood and gore is kept to a minimum.

The main messages from this movie are:

  • Parents gain strength from their children that enable them to overcome impossible obstacles.
  • We need to ask for forgiveness from those we have wronged.    

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Selflessness and perseverance as shown by Perseus
  • Forgiveness: Zeus placed vital importance on seeking forgiveness for past wrongs he had committed against Hades.

Parents may also wish to discuss the negative aspects of resentment. Hades and Ares have both developed twisted and self-destructive personalities as a result of their resentment of Zeus.