Hi there, it’s me, Franchise Guy. As you know, I love franchises, but it’s also important for you to know that it’s not just some franchises. It’s all franchises. Even your relatively minor franchises like the Of the Titans series. So don’t think for a second that I wasn’t devastated to learn that there was a canceled sequel to this film called Revenge of the Titans. If there’s one thing a Franchise Guy can’t abide, it’s the loss of an entry. They made Angel has Fallen for goodness sake! You can at least make it a trilogy. So I beg of you, get back in that kitchen and cook us up some revenge. Take a page out of Mechanic Ressurection’s book and start it off in Rio, babbby! Some fun in the sun for our boy Perseus. That is until Zues comes a knocking for one last job. It’s writing itself.
To Recap, Perseus is back, Jack! And boy does he just want to be boring. He’s got a son, his wife has died, and he just wants a nice, quiet… Gah! What are all these monstarrrsssss, noooooo!!!! Maybe he should have listened to his daddio Zues when he asked for his help, cause now Hades and Ares are draining his power in order to unleash Kronos (and monsters) into the world. Dang it! He’s told by a dying Poseidon to take his trident and team up with his demigod son Agenor and Andromeda (hottest lady in the land, remember) to find Hephaestus. You see, H-man is a fallen god who also can make a super rad ultimate weapon that’s definitely real called the Spear of Trium. After dispatching some cyclopses, H-man is perfectly happy to take them to the labyrinth he designed to hold Kronos. Unfortunately, he also has to sacrifice himself to save everyone from an eeeevil Ares. Once in the labyrinth a bunch of lame stuff happens. Like there’s a minotaur, but it’s lame. When they get to Zues they save him, but Kronos still gets free. Perseus has to challenge Ares to a duel so he can build the Spear of Trium to kill Kronos. Meanwhile like a million people die and Hades and Zues become best buds again. Finally, Perseus defeats Ares, builds the spear, and totally kills Kronos. Zues dies, Perseus smooches Andromeda (hard), and they become god kings probably. THE END.
This one stings for Franchise Guy (did I mention Franchise Guy speaks in the third person?). I unironically enjoyed watching Clash of the Titans. Given that they could borrow heavily from the classic tale of Perseus, it was just a very sound plot. This time around they had to crack their knuckles and… find a bunch of random stuff to borrow from? It mostly feels just like that. A bunch of random stuff. Cyclopses are easily dispatches, a minotaur shows up in the labyrinth for like a millisecond before being thrown away, etc. Then there is the truly bizarre. They invent a MacGuffin, which I appreciate, but really? There weren’t enough MacGuffins for you to work with already? Hades has a redemption story… literally the God of the Underworld is hugging it out with his best bro Zues. It’s wild stuff. It also somehow looked worse than the first one, which is a trend in films. The DC films never really got back to the level of Man of Steel. It’s like a basketball team where the money stays the same, but the superstars get paid more and the role players (CGI) suffer. But you need those role players to make it work. Sigh.
Hot Take Clam Bake! I’d like to ask Perseus a few questions about what exactly happened to his allegedly immortal wife Io. My previous hot take was that Perseus 1000% gets with Andromeda after the first film and oh ho ho by sheer coincidence this immortal lady is suddenly dead and Perseus has to share a daring quest with Andromeda? Sure, sure, sure Perseus. Just a coincidence I bet. Wouldn’t have anything to do with that magical sword you have conveniently buried under your house. And, oh, after years of claiming you just want to be a quiet fisherman and telling your son to deny his immortal ancestors, you suddenly are all like “let’s rule with an iron fist” and “this is your new mom, Andromeda?” Take him away, boys. Perseus? More like Worst-eus. Hot Take Temperature: Hades.
Patrick
‘Ello everyone! Wrath of the Titans? More like Say Whaaaa of the Titans? I mean … I’m so tired guys, I just watched two CGI monster movies in a row. Let’s go!
Decidedly worse than the first … I think that about does it. Cheerios!
Fine. This time Sam Worthington seems to have been told that it is fine if he just speaks in his native Australian accent? Wild decision.
Rosamund Pike was good in the film though, I did like the decision to make her the strong leader of the resistance against … (wracks brain) … Ares? I think that’s right. Ares and … Kronos. Phew, I made it there.
The CGI looks like crap though. Maybe because there were many more moments of them just appearing in a place and then getting attacked suddenly by CGI monsters. In the first there was a bit of a “let’s put together a band and go get Medusa’s head” element. Here I honestly cannot remember what precisely they were looking for. I’ll have to look up the wiki page later for the details.
I do like how they twisted things up. The clear downfall of the Gods. All of them effectively die by the end of the film. It is clear that the age of the Greek god ruling is over. Makes you wonder what the third one would have even been about.
But no wonder this was the last. A decidedly ugly, dour film compared to a surprisingly entertaining and light first film. I guess what do you expect when you have to kill off the main character’s wife and make him a saddo to make any of the motivations make sense.
Oh I remember, I bet the third would have been about his quarter (half? Was Io officially a god?) god son and their relationship with the now powerless Hades (the last of the big four Gods we’ve seen).
Setting as a Character (Where?) again for Greece. Period Piece (When?) for Ancient Greece. I think this is a true blue MacGuffin (Why?) for the Spear of Trium which I guess kills Kronos and not much else? Closest to Bad I think, too boring.
Read about the documentary I made about Perseus’ fighting career in the Quiz. Cheerios,
Clickity Clash of the Titans, baby. Never seen the original and we weren’t about to change that now. We already had to watch a couple films this week and so there is only so much homework we can take… like remember when we did those based-on-a-book cycles? That’s crazy. We got lives, jobs, responsibilities. Responsibilities like a multimedia empire to take care of. So we met up at my house, put on our big boy pants, put our hats on backwards, curled up the cuffs on our pants up past our calves, hiked up our tubes socks to cover our well-toned calves, put on our birkenstocks to pair with our tube socks, unbuttoned exactly two buttons on our casual short sleeved dress shirts, make sure we aren’t wearing our typical deep-v undershirt in order to maintain modesty, put on a single fingerless glove, put a second hat on top of our original hat, tightened our ascots, and watched Clash of the Titans as it should be watched… together… as a fambly… dressed like monsters.
The recap, Perseus is just a demigod looking to live a quiet life as a fisherman. Fat chance! That’s because everyone is going around being like “stupid gods, we don’t even like you,” and the gods are none to happy about it. His family is killed in one of these clashes between man and god and he is taken to Argos. The King and Queen of Argos are all like “whatevs, sure we got totally owned by the gods, but like… doubt it’ll happen again.” Wrong! Hades is right there to kill the queen and threaten to destroy the city with the Kraken unless the princess is sacrificed. Suddenly they are really happy to have Persues around. They send him on a quest to ask some gross witches what they need to kill a Kraken. On this quest they have all kinds of kooky adventures. They fight some big ol’ scorpions, Zeus tries to give Perseus a sword but he’s like “you’re not my real dad!”, and some Djinn come along and agree to help them. When they get to the witches they are indeed real gross, but also they quickly force them to reveal the one thing that can kill a Kraken: Medusa’s gross head. Perseus pretty easily grabs dat head, but pretty much everyone else dies. He uses Pegasus to fly back to Argos where the princess is about to be thrown into the Kraken’s maw. But Perseus is like “check this out,” and shows the Kraken the gross Medusa head and it’s so gross that the Kraken dies. Perseus wins. THE END.
I actually dug this movie. It comes from a time when CGI heavy films were being made with love and care for a massive amount of money rather than now when they are shot out by a CGI cannon for a massive amount of money. So other than a couple dodgy moments (looking at you, giant scorpions) I thought this film looked quite good. It also is helped by being entrenched in classic mythology without a need to deviate too far from the given route. So the story is good. Classic hero’s quest. I can see why the film got a sequel. It made a bunch of money and I could see there being a solid fanbase… like me… I am the fanbase. It made me want to go back and watch the original film, even, just to see if it had a similar classic mythology vibe. But again… responsibilities etc. etc. etc.
Hot Take Clam Bake! Perseus definitely gets with Andromeda, right? She is lauded as the greatest beauty in all the land (just don’t say she’s more beautiful than the gods). She offers Perseus the opportunity to be king. They have been brought closer by an intense tragedy and loss of like… everyone they know. They are getting it. I don’t care that Io is like “uh, I’m also immortal so basically I understand you.” Understand shmand. Put it in the bank. Five seconds after the movie ends Perseus stops and is like “wait a second, I’m not sure I actually want to be a fisherman all that much,” and heads off to have all his wildest dreams come true. Hot Take Temperature: Cool ocean breeze on the cliffs of Argos.
Patrick?
Patrick
‘Ello everyone! Clash of the Titans? More like Cash Grab of a Slight Film … sure, a little overwrought maybe. Like this movie! Let’s go!
This film is kind of good. I’m actually quite surprised to say that. It seems to have an interesting myth based story. Some of the CGI still holds up decently (a huge surprise). And the cast is chockablock with big stars looking silly in costumes.
It stumbles every so often though. The scorpions? Look like garbage.
Medusa? Real real real garbage looking.
I loved the design of the Djinn, but even that was a little bit of a step too far at times. Starts to really lean into the fantasy elements instead of the mythological elements. Is it weird that I’m like “medusa, giants, gods, etc. that’s fine” but then when a whole mess of Djinn show up it felt like a mixed metaphor? Like they were pulling in some other cultures mythology and muddling things unnecessarily. Perhaps Djinns did exist in ancient Greek myths. Maybe I should look that up.
Nope, from what I can tell Djinns are pretty exclusive to Islamic beliefs, all the way to being firmly established only after the establishment of Islam as a religion even. They existed prior, but it seems rather unlikely that they would have been involved with the Greek mythological figures in any meaningful way.
But still, I was girding myself for a real Sam Worthington (more like Wooden-ton am I right?) performance, but he was a genuine star in this and the film worked quite well I thought.
Sadly I didn’t watch the original, although I wish I had because there is some indication that some of Wrath maybe comes from the back half of that film, which could have made me appreciate that one more.
Obviously a Setting as a Character (Where?) for Ancient Greece, we could replace Meet the Spartans on the map if we wanted to. I kind of love the idea of MacGuffin (Why?) being Medusa’s head, but they also know what it does and why they are getting it so not really. I think this is very much closest to Good.
Read about the three camera sitcom that fell between the two films in the Quiz, Cheerios,
Oh man. Last time when I clashed I sustained a massive concussion and had to sit in a dark room for six months. Can you imagine was happened when I wrathed? No seriously, can you, because I can’t remember. Do you remember what happened in Wrath of the Titans?
Pop Quiz Hot Shot!
1) I definitely totally remember what this movie was about … uh, so in the beginning Ares and Hades attack the other gods, and one of them dies. Who?
2) Zeus is captured in the process, but not before he goes and has a conversation with Perseus. What is the existential issue Zeus discussed with him?
3) There is a true blue MacGuffin in this film. What is the Spear of Trium, and what does it do?
4) Throughout as well Perseus and his gang of heroes (naturally) need to get to Tartarus. What is this place, what is it for?
5) Don’t worry Perseus does manage to save the day, but who does he have to fight for control of Zeus’ spear?
Bonus Question: Well now Perseus and his son uh … *checks notes* Helius? Doesn’t sound right, but let’s go with it. They ain’t fisherman no longer. What do they do in their retirement?
Oh boy, so get this. I’m the son of Zeus (NBD) and all these netherworld demons popped out to attack some soldiers and bopped me right on the head (oh and killed my whole fambly). I don’t remember a thing. Do you remember what happened in Clash of the Titans (2010)?
Pop Quiz Hot Shot!
1) Meet our hero, he’s a little babyyyyyyy (awwwwwwwwww). Where is this baby found by his ultra-salt of the earth daddio?
2) Uh oh, there are those aforementioned demons! Hades sent them (natch). But why are they coming to dispatch the demons. What has made Hades so goshdern mad?
3) Perseus is then taken by said army to a kingdom where they make the ultimate blasphemy … which is?
4) Welp, there is only one person who can save them now: Perseus the Mirthiest (spoiler, actually he seems rather dour, but whatever). What does he need to do to stop that Kraken?
5) They said they were going to do it, they said they were going to release the Kraken. And they did. Say it with me … RELEASE THE KRAKEN! In the end Perseus saves the day, but then he gets his own special ending. Who does he marry and what is her curse?
Bonus Question: Well Perseus is a hero, but just wants to be a fisherman. But ho, a knock at the door. Who could it be?
“Why are we still here?” asks Jamie, a dark pall hanging over his features. “Because,” Michael explains, “you are meant to reconnect with people. Kevin James connects with people. If you understand that then we can leave. Beep boop” Patrick scoffs. “I think the answer to that starts with a ‘D’ and ends with an ‘uh.’ We aren’t total idiots, we know Paul Blart was a sensation.” They get up to leave. “Is that so?” Michael robot scoffs right back at them, “Then why did you spend,” he pauses, a mechanical whirring sound intensifying as he performs a quick numerical calculation, “1,146 words talking about Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 on BadMovieTwins.com and conclude, and I quote, ‘it’s trash.’ Beep boop?” This robot is asking for another punch to its robot chest. Jamie and Patrick clench their fists, but eventually sit back down. When he’s right, he’s right… and also they installed a titanium plate over his chest in the rebuild. Their fists would likely splinter in a cloud of pink mist if they attempted a similar punch a second time. They turn their attention back at the stage where Kevin James has launched into his third (and hopefully final) impression of who he calls Itch and Blow: The Dope-elgangers. The crowd is loving it. “Look at my abs! Look at my greasy abs!” Kevin James is screaming and the crowd wails. “Oh man, my balls are itchy,” he continues as Itch. The crowd gobbles it up. Jamie and Patrick grit their teeth and laugh along with the crowd. Whatever it takes to satisfy Michael. It’s working until Kevin James looks at them again and mouths “You stink, Bad Movie Twins.” That’s it! “Let’s pound some dweebs,” they say in unison, getting up from their chairs. That’s right! It’s a double this week with Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans. If you wondered what Sam Worthington used his Avatar cache on, well… it was this. Let’s go!
Wrath of the Titans (2012) – BMeTric: 44.5; Notability: 65
StreetCreditReport.com –BMeTric: top 10.4%; Notability: top 2.4%; Rotten Tomatoes: top 18.8%; Higher BMeT: Piranha 3DD, The Devil Inside, LOL, Paranormal Activity 4, The Apparition, Smiley, ATM, Chernobyl Diaries, The Cold Light of Day, The ABCs of Death, Dark Tide, Alex Cross, Resident Evil: Retribution, So Undercover, Red Dawn, Aftershock, Lay the Favorite, One for the Money, About Cherry, Madea’s Witness Protection, and 6 more; Higher Notability: Battleship, Dark Shadows, Ice Age: Continental Drift, This Means War, Red Tails, Total Recall; Lower RT: A Thousand Words, Dark Tide, One for the Money, The Apparition, The Cold Light of Day, Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike, Playing for Keeps, The Devil Inside, So Undercover, Fire with Fire, The Babymakers, Breaking the Girls, Alex Cross, Piranha 3DD, ATM, Gone, House at the End of the Street, Meeting Evil, LOL, About Cherry, and 25 more; Notes: Wow, the drop in the notability is startling. I suppose they really cut down on the gods and goddesses which is where a lot of the big names hung out for the two scene cameos in the first.
RogerEbert.com – 2.0 stars – Maybe it was the three exploding mountains too many. Or the dozen surplus fireballs. Or too much noise. “Wrath of the Titans” relentlessly wore me down with special effects so overscale compared to the characters in the film that at times the only thing to do was grin. The characters, to be sure, are gods and not humans, but they are human-sized gods. Give it a moment’s thought: What chance does your average muscular god have against the grinding stones of a labyrinth as large as a volcano?
(Yeah here we go. The first was good for what it is. But then this is average for what it is, which means bad. The logic checks out.)
(I distinctly enjoy the lack of a heavy metal soundtrack. Looks bigger and noisier and still pretty rad.)
Directors – Jonathan Liebesman – ( Known For: The Killing Room; Future BMT: Darkness Falls; BMT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning; Wrath of the Titans; Battle Los Angeles; Notes: And he was an executive producer on Doolitte. South African. He directed 4 episodes of the Halo television series.)
Writers – Dan Mazeau – ( Known For: Fast X; BMT: Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Has a Van Helsing script in development.)
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick – ( Known For: Orphan; Aquaman; Orphan: First Kill; The Conjuring 2; The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It; BMT: Wrath of the Titans; Red Riding Hood; Notes: Has both the sequel to Aquaman and the fourth Conjuring film on the docket.)
Greg Berlanti – ( Known For: The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy; Future BMT: Green Lantern; BMT: Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Nominated for two Emmys for The Flight Attendant and Political Animals. At this point he appears to develop all of the DC live-action television work.)
Beverley Cross – ( Known For: Clash of the Titans; Jason and the Argonauts; Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger; The Long Ships; Genghis Khan; Half a Sixpence; BMT: Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Wait … is this based on part of the first movie or something. What an odd credit. Man, I really should have watched the original movie. Then I would know these things.)
Actors – Sam Worthington – ( Known For: Simulant; Avatar: The Way of Water; Avatar; Hacksaw Ridge; Everest; Fractured; Last Night; Rogue; Cake; The Titan; Lansky; The Debt; The Last Son; Texas Killing Fields; 9 Bullets; Hart’s War; The Keeping Room; The Hunter’s Prayer; Kidnapping Mr. Heineken; Paper Planes; Future BMT: Terminator Salvation; The Shack; Man on a Ledge; The Great Raid; BMT: Clash of the Titans; Wrath of the Titans; Sabotage; Notes: Again, you know Sam Worthington. Apparently he got so ripped for Avatar and Terminator: Salvation it changes his character in these films from somewhat slender to ultra-ripped.)
Liam Neeson – ( Known For: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker; Schindler’s List; The Dark Knight Rises; Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Batman Begins; Love Actually; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Gangs of New York; Taken; Excalibur; The Lego Movie; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The A-Team; Widows; The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; Silence; Run All Night; Ted 2; Future BMT: Marlowe; Kingdom of Heaven; Men in Black: International; The Marksman; Krull; Taken 3; A Million Ways to Die in the West; Taken 2; Entourage; The Huntsman: Winter’s War; Daddy’s Home 2; High Spirits; The Nut Job; Before and After; BMT: Battleship; Memory; Clash of the Titans; Blacklight; The Haunting; Wrath of the Titans; Notes: He has eight films on the docket including the sequel to Ice Road. You ever see Ice Road? It’s bananas.)
Rosamund Pike – ( Known For: Pride & Prejudice; Gone Girl; Jack Reacher; The World’s End; Hostiles; I Care a Lot; The Informer; Die Another Day; Fracture; Return to Sender; An Education; The Big Year; What We Did on Our Holiday; The Man with the Iron Heart; Beirut; A Private War; Radioactive; Hector and the Search for Happiness; A United Kingdom; A Long Way Down; Future BMT: 7 Days in Entebbe; Surrogates; Johnny English Reborn; The Libertine; BMT: Doom; Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Notably is starring in the Wheel of Time television show on Amazon. Nominated for an Oscar for Gone Girl.)
(Yeah, so this is more of a disaster. I honestly find this a bit odd. They cut down the cast quite dramatically, so why did the budget go up again? Seems like a bad idea.)
Rotten Tomatoes – 26% (46/176): Its 3D effects are an improvement over its predecessor’s, but in nearly every other respect, Wrath of the Titans fails to improve upon the stilted acting, wooden dialogue, and chaos-driven plot of the franchise’s first installment.
(Yes, yes, yes … wait why did Ebert think the first was better. I’m joking. Having watched both the first is way better than the second, and the fact that critics failed to recognize that outside of Ebert I think is not super great.)
NY Times Short Review: In this sequel to the 2010 “Clash of the Titans” remake, Zeus asks his demigod son for help, as the battle for supremacy between the gods and the Titans goes on.
(This looks markedly worse than the first one even though it’s essentially the same. I’m not sure why. I can kind of smell the stench of garbage wafting off of it. C-.)
Tagline(s) – Feel the Wrath (D-)
(Boooooooo.)
Keyword(s) – wisdom
Top 10: The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Forrest Gump (1994), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Future BMT: 88.5 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), 84.0 Prom Night (2008), 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 82.2 You Got Served (2004), 80.0 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009), 79.6 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), 78.8 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), 77.5 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 72.3 Bewitched (2005), 71.4 The Animal (2001), 69.3 College Road Trip (2008), 68.9 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), 68.4 Poltergeist (2015), 68.2 Yogi Bear (2010), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 65.6 The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), 65.6 Halloween Ends (2022), 65.3 Fat Albert (2004), 65.0 Scary Movie 4 (2006)
BMT: Batman & Robin (1997), The Emoji Movie (2017), The Last Airbender (2010), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Crossroads (2002), Norbit (2007), From Justin to Kelly (2003), The Master of Disguise (2002), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Little Man (2006), Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015), Taxi (2004), Freddy Got Fingered (2001), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Zoolander 2 (2016), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), The Boy Next Door (2015), Wild Wild West (1999), Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), Year One (2009), Are We There Yet? (2005), Big Momma’s House 2 (2006), Marmaduke (2010), The Roommate (2011), Tammy (2014), Abduction (2011), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005), A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), New York Minute (2004), Hot Pursuit (2015), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Big Momma’s House (2000), An American Haunting (2005), … (and many more)
Best Options (Action): 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 56.8 Land of the Lost (2009), 48.2 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), 47.8 Men in Black: International (2019), 44.6 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), 44.5 Wrath of the Titans (2012), 44.0 Allegiant (2016), 41.2 Clash of the Titans (2010), 40.9 Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), 40.6 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013), 37.8 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), 36.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), 34.3 Van Helsing (2004), 34.2 The Tourist (2010), 34.1 Taken 3 (2014), 33.4 Sahara (2005), 32.3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), 31.1 Justice League (2017), 30.3 The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016), 29.4 Waist Deep (2006), 27.9 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), 27.8 The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), 27.7 Dracula Untold (2014), 27.6 Rush Hour 3 (2007), 27.3 Antitrust (2001), 27.0 War (2007), 25.6 Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), 24.8 Terminator Genisys (2015), 24.6 King Arthur (2004), 22.0 Now You See Me 2 (2016), 21.7 Let’s Be Cops (2014), 21.0 Act of Valor (2012), 19.4 Terminator Salvation (2009), 19.4 Kick-Ass 2 (2013), 17.0 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), 16.9 Eagle Eye (2008), 16.7 Tears of the Sun (2003), 14.8 The Matrix Revolutions (2003), 14.8 Angels & Demons (2009), 12.8 The Island (2005), 9.3 Underworld (2003), 6.6 Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
(Don’t worry, we’ll hit up all three TMNT films soon enough …)
Welcome to Earf (HoE Number 14) – The shortest path through The Movie Database cast lists using only BMT films is: Sam Worthington is No. 1 billed in Wrath of the Titans and No. 1 billed in Clash of the Titans, which also stars Gemma Arterton (No. 2 billed) who is in Runner Runner (No. 2 billed) which also stars Ben Affleck (No. 1 billed) who is in Pearl Harbor (No. 1 billed) which also stars Josh Hartnett (No. 3 billed) who is in Here on Earth (No. 3 billed) => (1 + 1) + (2 + 2) + (1 + 1) + (3 + 3) = 14. If we were to watch Marlowe we can get the HoE Number down to 13.
Notes – The movie takes place 10 years after the previous one.
Gemma Arterton was originally supposed to return, but scheduling conflicts with Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) prevented that. Her character was written out, rather than being re-cast, as Andromeda was.
Hephaestus converses with Bubo, the mechanical owl from Clash of the Titans (1981).
Bill Nighy, who plays Hephaestus, when recognizing Perseus, says “Release the Kraken”. Nighy plays “Davy Jones” in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and says the same thing.
In preparation for her role as Andromeda, Rosamund Pike was instructed by director Jonathan Liebesman to study Mel Gibson’s William Wallace in Braveheart (1995), not fellow Bond girl Sophie Marceau’s Princess Isabelle as she’d naturally, though wrongly, anticipated.
Contenders for the role of Andromeda were Hayley Atwell, Georgina Haig, Janet Montgomery, Dominique McElligott, and Clémence Poésy. The role was previously portrayed in Clash of the Titans (2010) by Alexa Davalos, who turned down an offer to reprise it.
Javier Bardem was considered for the role of Ares, and James Franco was considered to play Agenor.
Rosamund Pike replaced Alexa Davalos from Clash of the Titans (2010) as Andromeda.
Sent to the cinemas under code name “Torn Between”.
The sound the Minotaur makes is a recording of the grunt of an elephant. It also happens to be the very same sound effect used for the Minotaur-boss in Hercules (1997) .
A sequel for the film, titled “Revenge of the Titans” was in production, and the plot would have involved the resurrection of the gods. However, it was later scrapped, due to the poor reception of this film.
“Why are we still here?” asks Jamie, a dark pall hanging over his features. “Because,” Michael explains, “you are meant to reconnect with people. Kevin James connects with people. If you understand that then we can leave. Beep boop” Patrick scoffs. “I think the answer to that starts with a ‘D’ and ends with an ‘uh.’ We aren’t total idiots, we know Paul Blart was a sensation.” They get up to leave. “Is that so?” Michael robot scoffs right back at them, “Then why did you spend,” he pauses, a mechanical whirring sound intensifying as he performs a quick numerical calculation, “1,146 words talking about Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 on BadMovieTwins.com and conclude, and I quote, ‘it’s trash.’ Beep boop?” This robot is asking for another punch to its robot chest. Jamie and Patrick clench their fists, but eventually sit back down. When he’s right, he’s right… and also they installed a titanium plate over his chest in the rebuild. Their fists would likely splinter in a cloud of pink mist if they attempted a similar punch a second time. They turn their attention back at the stage where Kevin James has launched into his third (and hopefully final) impression of who he calls Itch and Blow: The Dope-elgangers. The crowd is loving it. “Look at my abs! Look at my greasy abs!” Kevin James is screaming and the crowd wails. “Oh man, my balls are itchy,” he continues as Itch. The crowd gobbles it up. Jamie and Patrick grit their teeth and laugh along with the crowd. Whatever it takes to satisfy Michael. It’s working until Kevin James looks at them again and mouths “You stink, Bad Movie Twins.” That’s it! “Let’s pound some dweebs,” they say in unison, getting up from their chairs. That’s right! It’s a double this week with Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans. If you wondered what Sam Worthington used his Avatar cache on, well… it was this. Let’s go!
Clash of the Titans (2010) – BMeTric: 41.2; Notability: 110
StreetCreditReport.com –BMeTric: top 15.2%; Notability: top 0.0%; Rotten Tomatoes: top 23.8%; Higher BMeT: The Last Airbender, Vampires Suck, Birdemic: Shock and Terror, Skyline, Sex and the City 2, Furry Vengeance, Jonah Hex, Marmaduke, Gulliver’s Travels, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Yogi Bear, Tekken, My Soul to Take, Tooth Fairy, Legion, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Passion Play, The Back-up Plan, Why Did I Get Married Too?, Killers, and 18 more; Lower RT: Tekken, Passion Play, Twelve, 6 Souls, Shanghai, Vampires Suck, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, The Last Airbender, The Tortured, Waiting for Forever, 13, Furry Vengeance, Crazy on the Outside, Saw 3D, Marmaduke, Little Fockers, My Soul to Take, Killers, Grown Ups, Virginia, and 38 more; Notes: My god. A 100+ Notability. There can’t be very many of those we haven’t seen. Although we do tend to avoid the barely-qualifying big boys in general. Case in point: Justice League, coming up.
RogerEbert.com – 3.0 stars – There are too many Greek gods for me to keep straight, since as a child I didn’t have action figures as a learning tool. I was prepared to take notes during “Clash of the Titans” but only wrote down a single one: “Release the Kraken!” — Conan O’Brien. I know I was intended to be terrified by the release of the Kraken, but all I could think of was O’Brien shouting “Release the bear!” and then some guy in a bear suit runs out and sits on the lap of a guest. In this case, the Kraken is the nuclear option for Zeus, who has been persuaded by Hades to put down a revolt by the upstart mortals of Argos.
(Genuinely good review. I think that makes sense. The first is an adaptation of a good movie, and an adaptation of a real myth. It really depends on how much you can tolerate CGI nonsense. And at this point Ebert happily tolerated a bunch of that.)
(Possibly the most iconic line in trailer history? Which is bizarre to think about. Anyways, it looks rad, but I hate the heavy metal soundtrack. Hate hate hate it.)
Directors – Louis Leterrier – ( Known For: Fast X; The Incredible Hulk; Now You See Me; The Transporter; Transporter 2; Unleashed; The Takedown; Future BMT: The Brothers Grimsby; BMT: Clash of the Titans; Notes: Won an Emmy for The Dark Crystal television show. And as you can see, in the news now since he is the director of Fast X.)
Writers – Travis Beacham – ( Known For: Pacific Rim; Pacific Rim: Uprising; Dog Days of Summer; BMT: Clash of the Titans; Notes: Mostly has been writing for TV recently, specifically Carnival Row.)
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi – ( Known For: The Invitation; Destroyer; Crazy/Beautiful; BMT: Clash of the Titans; R.I.P.D.; Æon Flux; Ride Along; The Tuxedo; Ride Along 2; Notes: Also mostly television writers now, although in this case on a show I’ve never heard of, The Mysterious Benedict Society.)
Beverley Cross – ( Known For: Clash of the Titans; Jason and the Argonauts; Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger; The Long Ships; Genghis Khan; Half a Sixpence; BMT: Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Nominated for several Tony Awards in 1965 for Half a Sixpence. Wrote the original Clash of the Titans, and was married to Maggie Smith.)
Actors – Sam Worthington – ( Known For: Simulant; Avatar: The Way of Water; Avatar; Hacksaw Ridge; Everest; Fractured; Last Night; Rogue; Cake; The Titan; Lansky; The Debt; The Last Son; Texas Killing Fields; 9 Bullets; Hart’s War; The Keeping Room; The Hunter’s Prayer; Kidnapping Mr. Heineken; Paper Planes; Future BMT: Terminator Salvation; The Shack; Man on a Ledge; The Great Raid; BMT: Clash of the Titans; Wrath of the Titans; Sabotage; Notes: Y’all know Sam Worthington … wait do you? He’s Australian, and an ultimate “that guy.” Seemed like he was going to be a big star, and then ended up “merely” being the somewhat faceless star of the Avatar series.)
Liam Neeson – ( Known For: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker; Schindler’s List; The Dark Knight Rises; Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Batman Begins; Love Actually; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Gangs of New York; Taken; Excalibur; The Lego Movie; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The A-Team; Widows; The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; Silence; Run All Night; Ted 2; Future BMT: Marlowe; Kingdom of Heaven; Men in Black: International; The Marksman; Krull; Taken 3; A Million Ways to Die in the West; Taken 2; Entourage; The Huntsman: Winter’s War; Daddy’s Home 2; High Spirits; The Nut Job; Before and After; BMT: Battleship; Memory; Clash of the Titans; Blacklight; The Haunting; Wrath of the Titans; Notes: Now, you definitely know Liam Neeson. Makes a bunch of garbage now, but … no wait, he’s always made garbage. Check out his 80s and 90s. It is bonkers. He’s Irish. Nominated for an Oscar for Schindler’s List.)
Ralph Fiennes – ( Known For: The Menu; Schindler’s List; The Grand Budapest Hotel; No Time to Die; The King’s Man; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2; The Hurt Locker; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; In Bruges; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Red Dragon; Skyfall; Spectre; The Reader; Official Secrets; The Forgiven; The Lego Batman Movie; The English Patient; The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part; Future BMT: Maid in Manhattan; BMT: Clash of the Titans; Dolittle; Wrath of the Titans; The Avengers; Holmes & Watson; Notes: Nominated for two Oscars (Schindler’s List and The English Patient). He’s English and you best believe he’s related to Hero Fiennes Tiffin (his nephew).)
(That’s a solid haul. It would probably be considered a huge disaster now for dumb reasons, but at the time I’m sure getting to around half a billion and with home video sales it was a solid take.)
Rotten Tomatoes – 27% (72/266): An obviously affectionate remake of the 1981 original, Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans doesn’t offer enough visual thrills to offset the deficiencies of its script.
(I mean, some people would disagree, namely Roger Ebert, ever head of him? Having watched it, the CGI is actually quite good with one exception which is the giant scorpions which look like trash.)
NY Times Short Review: A remake of a 1981 film features swords, sandals and monsters, this time around in 3-D.
(Too bland. But good font and honestly it would have been a crime if they didn’t make a poster like this following the success of 300. Would have been gross negligence. B.)
Tagline(s) – The Clash Begins 2.4.2010 (F)
(Booooooooooooooo.)
Keyword(s) – wisdom
Top 10: The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Forrest Gump (1994), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Future BMT: 88.5 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), 84.0 Prom Night (2008), 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 82.2 You Got Served (2004), 80.0 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009), 79.6 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), 78.8 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), 77.5 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 72.3 Bewitched (2005), 71.4 The Animal (2001), 69.3 College Road Trip (2008), 68.9 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), 68.4 Poltergeist (2015), 68.2 Yogi Bear (2010), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 65.6 The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), 65.6 Halloween Ends (2022), 65.3 Fat Albert (2004), 65.0 Scary Movie 4 (2006)
BMT: Batman & Robin (1997), The Emoji Movie (2017), The Last Airbender (2010), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Crossroads (2002), Norbit (2007), From Justin to Kelly (2003), The Master of Disguise (2002), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Little Man (2006), Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015), Taxi (2004), Freddy Got Fingered (2001), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Zoolander 2 (2016), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), The Boy Next Door (2015), Wild Wild West (1999), Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), Year One (2009), Are We There Yet? (2005), Big Momma’s House 2 (2006), Marmaduke (2010), The Roommate (2011), Tammy (2014), Abduction (2011), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005), A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), New York Minute (2004), Hot Pursuit (2015), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Big Momma’s House (2000), An American Haunting (2005),… (and many more)
Best Options (Action): 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 56.8 Land of the Lost (2009), 48.2 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), 47.8 Men in Black: International (2019), 44.6 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), 44.5 Wrath of the Titans (2012), 44.0 Allegiant (2016), 41.2 Clash of the Titans (2010), 40.9 Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), 40.6 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013), 37.8 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), 36.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), 34.3 Van Helsing (2004), 34.2 The Tourist (2010), 34.1 Taken 3 (2014), 33.4 Sahara (2005), 32.3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), 31.1 Justice League (2017), 30.3 The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016), 29.4 Waist Deep (2006), 27.9 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), 27.8 The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), 27.7 Dracula Untold (2014), 27.6 Rush Hour 3 (2007), 27.3 Antitrust (2001), 27.0 War (2007), 25.6 Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), 24.8 Terminator Genisys (2015), 24.6 King Arthur (2004), 22.0 Now You See Me 2 (2016), 21.7 Let’s Be Cops (2014), 21.0 Act of Valor (2012), 19.4 Terminator Salvation (2009), 19.4 Kick-Ass 2 (2013), 17.0 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), 16.9 Eagle Eye (2008), 16.7 Tears of the Sun (2003), 14.8 The Matrix Revolutions (2003), 14.8 Angels & Demons (2009), 12.8 The Island (2005), 9.3 Underworld (2003), 6.6 Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
(We went for a two-fer here. Totally worth it, even after my brain melted at hour four of this CGI nonsense.)
Welcome to Earf (HoE Number 12) – The shortest path through The Movie Database cast lists using only BMT films is: Gemma Arterton is No. 2 billed in Clash of the Titans and No. 2 billed in Runner Runner, which also stars Ben Affleck (No. 1 billed) who is in Pearl Harbor (No. 1 billed) which also stars Josh Hartnett (No. 3 billed) who is in Here on Earth (No. 3 billed) => (2 + 2) + (1 + 1) + (3 + 3) = 12. There is no shorter path at the moment.
Notes – Emma Thompson almost made an accidental uncredited cameo in this movie while visiting friend Liam Neeson on the set. Thompson, who’d been filming Nanny McPhee Returns (2010) in an adjacent studio, went to visit Neeson during a break, just as Neeson was about to shoot a scene with Ralph Fiennes and Danny Huston. Unable to exit the set fast enough as the cameras began to roll, Thompson, in her clumsy Nanny McPhee costume, had to hide behind Huston’s throne during the take so she would not be picked up by the cameras.
The language of Djinn is actually Arabic.
The word Kraken (sea monster) is Norwegian/Swedish, not Greek. Early script drafts considered changing it to its Hebrew counterpart Leviathan (famous from the Bible hymn of Job 41). It was changed back to Kraken as a tribute to the original Clash of the Titans (1981) tagline “Release the Kraken!” Surprisingly, the creature’s Greek name, Cetus, was never considered.
Sam Worthington’s sandals are Nike Trainers with toes painted on them. He didn’t wear sandals because he needed shoes to perform the stunts well.
In Greek mythology, Io is Perseus’ great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, and an old flame of his father Zeus.
Although Greek mythology contains different versions of the story of Perseus, the film deviates from all of them in some parts. Perseus supposedly flew to an island using winged sandals he borrowed from Hermes, and Medusa was only one of three Gorgons (i.e. half-woman half snake creatures with serpents for hair, the other two were called Stheno and Euryale).
The mechanical owl Bubo, from Clash of the Titans (1981), has a cameo as the toy Perseus picks up before he leaves on his quest. According to the filmmakers, the cameo was widely debated as to whether to keep it in the film, or not. It was eventually decided to keep it in the film, to please the fans of the original film.
Originally, Perseus was envisioned as being more of a young slender man. Louis Leterrier had watched Sam Worthington in the film Somersault (2004), and thought that he would be ideal, and was therefore somewhat taken aback when he met Worthington. The actor had bulked up considerably for his roles in Avatar (2009) and Terminator Salvation (2009).
The Stygian Witches were actually played by men.
The volcano scenes were shot at the Dinorwic Slate Quarry in Wales. This is a famous location, used for fantasies like Willow (1988) and Street Fighter (1994).
There are so many BMT films that we watched as kids that we never picked up because we sat there thinking, “But we watched that so many times before, that’ll skew our perception.” Darn tootin’! That’s kind of the point. Do we see what made these beloved films BMT qualifiers? Or do we vehemently disagree with their unjust BMT characterization? When Ace Ventura; When Nature Calls came out I think it might have been the funniest movie of all time… check that Billy Madison was the funniest movie of all time, but this was in the upper echelon of funny films. My favorite part? The rhino, duh. Nothing says “a nine-year-old will find this hilarious” more than a completely naked grown man squeezing himself out of the butt of a rhino. Now that I’m a completely naked grown man myself, I’m most anticipating the Monopoly Guy scene. One of the craziest things is the guy who played the Monopoly Guy in this film also played a skinny guy in the film Buddy. So that’s two films he’s in where a gorilla has sex with a human… or am I misremembering the film Buddy?
To recap, Ace Ventura is back, Jack! But this time he’s sad. He lost a raccoon and now has devoted his life to meditation in Tibet. When a representative from the nation of Nibia shows up asking for Ace’s help, the monks at the monastery are thrilled to get rid of him. His task is simple: get back the sacred Great White Bat that has been put up as the dowry for an important wedding between the hostile Wachootoo tribe and the peaceful Wachati tribe. Without it there will be war. Ace is grossed out by the bat, but agrees anyway. In Nibia he is informed of several unsavory suspects by the consul Cadby. He follows numerous leads, but nothing comes of them (other than getting pooped out of a mechanical rhino). When he gets tranquilized it appears to point to the Wachootoo tribe itself, but when he goes to investigate he is put through a series of trials which ultimately proves the innocence of the Wachootoo and instead points to a couple of poachers. This ends up leading to the discovery that the Cadby himself has arranged for war in pursuit of control of the guano trade in the region. Ace confronts Cadby and is able to recover the bat, leaving the consul in the loving grips of a randy gorilla. Ace saves the day, but ultimately earns the ire of the Wachootoo for having (unbeknownst to the viewer) deflowered the bride. THE END.
I still think this film is pretty gosh darn funny. Rewatching the first film along with this, though, does put into perspective just how recently comedy was not just playing with fire, but literally on fire with homophobia, transphobia, and racism. The Ace Ventura films unfortunately have plots that center directly on these stereotypes, so it’s hard to get around. It is something you would have to grapple right off the bat on rewatch. But speaking outside of those terms, I’ve always considered the second film much funnier than the first. It was written with Carrey’s Ace character fully realized. This is certainly true. Way, way funnier. Ace is a cartoon character in a real world in the first film. In the second it’s Ace’s world and we’re living in it. Unfortunately, this also means that almost nothing makes sense. The plot is ludicrously bad, just bopping from joke to joke and eventually “resolving” with a whimper. This doesn’t make it less funny, it just means the second is just not as good of a film as the first… you know, if you were looking for that kind of thing in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
Hot Take Clam Bake! Ace Ventura was obviously killed at the end of this film. Just listen to the plot of Ace Ventura Jr.: “Ace Ventura Jr. is the son of eccentric ‘pet detective’ Ace Ventura, who had disappeared when he was a baby, and is attempting to follow in his footsteps, much to the chagrin of his mother, Melissa, who repeatedly tries to dissuade him from doing so.” First of all, he disappeared when he was a baby. Maybe when he entered a monastery, got wrapped up in a mystery in Africa, and was killed? Maybe that’s when he disappeared? Also, he had a baby with Melissa from the first film. So clearly the birth happened prior to the events of this film. So I better not see Ace Ventura 3 on the horizon unless it’s called Ace Ventura: Ghost Pet Detective. Hot Take Temperature: Miami Beach.
Patrick?
Patrick
‘Ello everyone! How dare you. HOW DAAAAAAAAAAAAARE YOU. Let’s go!
Sometimes you look into the mirror at your clamshell VHS tape of Hook and whisper “Who am I?” and you realize that those movies you liked as a child are actually bad.
C’mon son, you know that day ain’t today. Ace Ventura is hilarious. Get that thought out of your dirty mind this second!
But sure … both films are a mishmash of misogyny, and homophobia, and transphobia, and oh boy is this film racist but like … it’s Ace Ventura, right?
But like … is it morally wrong to show this film to, say, a 10-year-old? The answer I think is yes. They need more context that doesn’t get clouded by a grown man talking out of his butt (objectively hilarious to a 10-year-old). It is on that Revenge of the Nerds level where you would turn to your child and be like “alright … well I forgot about this, but this part is actually rape and this main nerd should be in prison. The sequel should be Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Prison.” It is on the correct side of Soul Man, but on the wrong side of Revenge (only because you could edit Revenge of the Nerds to eliminate the Nerds’ horrible sex crimes).
Alright, enough of the moral quandary, let’s put that to the side and talk about both movies since I forced my wife to watch them with me because she had (gasp!) never seen either.
Verdict: Jim Carry was a whirlwind. A force of nature. The first movie could barely contain him. There is a script online, and for the most part it matches with the movie that was eventually shot, except that it has none of the Jim Carrey-ness of the eventual films. And reading it you can tell it would have been a pretty lackluster comedy without Carrey’s out of this world performance. My guess is that it never is actually made if not for Carrey signing on. Some producer somewhere knew that the script called for a crazy central performance and they nailed it.
The second embraces the character and feels like it sets up to portray the character well, but then gets waylaid by setting it in Africa which immediately causes issues. They really shouldn’t have gone abroad for the first sequel. They should have gone to Hollywood or New York and just amped up Ace Ventura, but kept the more grounded (less fictional) aspects brought in by setting it in a fictional colonized African country.
Fictional Location Alert (Where?) for the country of Nibia, and given the animals probably supposed to be down near South Africa. Not really but kind of a MacGuffin (Why?) for the Great White Bat. And Worst Twist (How?) for the obvious reveal that the white colonial monster is, well, a monster and is trying to set off a tribal war to consolidate power and exploit the resources of the region. I think this is closest to BMT, only because it is pretty funny, but also bad which makes for a pretty entertaining (if fraught) rewatch.
Read about the long lost sequel to When Nature Calls in the quiz, Cheerios,
Oh, shikaka! Here’s the thing. I’m terrified of bats, but I found myself in a cave just chockablock with ‘em! Needless to say I freaked out, ran out, and smashed my head on a rock. It isn’t a huge deal, but I do have a stage 3 concussion and can’t remember a thing. Do you remember what happened in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls?
Pop Quiz Hot Shot!
1) The Cliffhanger parody start is a classic. But what animal was he saving?
2) Well, that was an easy one. Nibia needs Ace’s help though! What is the crime that is about to spark war between the two tribes?
3) Ultimately Ace uncovers two clues which eventually lead him to the culprit. The first is a false clue. But what was the second?
4) Name the four challenges Ace has to overcome in the warlike tribe’s village.
5) What happens to the villain ultimately?
Bonus Question: The last we see of Ace he’s running for his life. We know what he’s running from. But where is he running to?
Jamie and Patrick look around the dance hall in downtown Lebanon, Kansas. People are dosadoing and promenading all the while staring in confusion at their jorts and leather vests. “Remind us again why we’re here? I thought we were gonna feel the rhythm take hold of our hearts… dance for our lives… what a feeling,” Jamie says, annoyed. Michael nods, “Yes, beep boop, The Dudikoffs want you to reconnect with the people. A beautiful artistic experimental dance is one thing. A people-pleasing, flashy dance is another. Time works differently in the catacombs. Beep boop.” Before embarking they had reassembled Michael, but not all the kinks were worked out yet. Jamie leans in close to Patrick’s ear to whisper something even Michael’s robot ears couldn’t hear. “Let’s blow this joint. Why not just go back to NYC and finish the Platonic Solids Series?” Patrick tended to agree. His neck had been itching for the feel of his cable knit sweater. Just as they turn to leave, though, an announcement rings out over the sound system. “Ladies and gentleman, start your engines because our special guest is here to show you how it’s done. ‘It’ is comedy. ‘It’ is sex appeal. ‘It’ is close-up magic. ‘He’ is three time Teen Choice Award nominee, one time People’s Choice Nominee, and current host of smash hit America is Very Good… Kevin James!” The crowd goes bananas. Kevin James emerges from a nearby restroom, grabs a microphone, and alerts all the attendees of the event that they should not go in there, implying that he destroyed the toilet. The crowd is laughing so hard that several of them faint. Jamie and Patrick turn around to find Kevin James staring directly at them from the stage mouthing the words “fuck you, Bad Movie Twins.” That’s right! Every once in a while you have to pick up a classic and this is one of those times. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was a smash hit, both financially and in our hearts. Let’s go!
StreetCreditReport.com –BMeTric: top 21.6%; Notability: top 12.0%; Rotten Tomatoes: top 16.3%; Higher BMeT: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Vampire in Brooklyn, Fair Game, Showgirls, Jury Duty, Batman Forever, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Congo, Theodore Rex, The Babysitter, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, Judge Dredd, Nine Months, The Scarlet Letter, Johnny Mnemonic, Virtuosity, and 34 more; Higher Notability: Batman Forever, Congo, Judge Dredd, Cutthroat Island, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Virtuosity, Showgirls, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Four Rooms, Money Train, Panther, Jefferson in Paris, Jade, Assassins, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, Hackers, Canadian Bacon, Just Cause, Nine Months, Dangerous Minds, and 10 more; Lower RT: The Big Green, Jury Duty, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, Theodore Rex, Delta of Venus, Born to Be Wild, The Walking Dead, Top Dog, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, The Hunted, It Takes Two, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Bushwhacked, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Fair Game, Canadian Bacon, Vampire in Brooklyn, The Scarlet Letter, Four Rooms, and 18 more; Notes: A bit higher notability than I would have expected (given the somewhat limited cast). When are we watching Under Siege 2?
Leonard Maltin – 2 stars – Sloppy assemblage of gags (with most of the good ones near the beginning) ostensibly about Ace’s anti-p.c. hijinks with battling African tribes while trying to locate a rare white bat. Clever opening spoof of Cliffhanger and a funny sight gag involving asparagus; otherwise, more of the same.
(Pretty much nails it. He gave the first 2 stars as well which I think is fair. Basically there the complaint was Carrey wouldn’t and couldn’t stop. That is very fair. The first is almost bursting at the seams trying to contain Carrey within a script not written for him. This one I think at least is written to accommodate his outlandish behavior.)
(The trailer is pretty good because it tells you almost nothing about the story. The only issue I could have is displaying two of the more solid jokes (the asparagus gag, and the spears in the legs). Solid overall. I remember this trailer so vividly for the music.)
Directors – Steve Oedekerk – ( Future BMT: Barnyard; Kung Pow: Enter the Fist; Nothing to Lose; BMT: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Notes: Wait … nominated for an Oscar? That’s right, he was nominated for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius in 2002. Some might recognize him as the star of Kung Pow: Enter the First.)
Writers – Jack Bernstein – ( Known For: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; BMT: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Notes: Mostly a television producing including 70 episodes of Royal Pains.)
Steve Oedekerk – ( Known For: Bruce Almighty; Cowboys & Aliens; The Nutty Professor; Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius; High Strung; Future BMT: Evan Almighty; Patch Adams; Barnyard; Kung Pow: Enter the Fist; Nothing to Lose; BMT: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Notes: He really lived off of that Jimmy Neutron gig for a while. Over 50 episodes of the television series, and then 20 more of a spinoff.)
Actors – Jim Carrey – ( Known For: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; The Truman Show; Sonic the Hedgehog 2; The Bad Batch; Sonic the Hedgehog; The Mask; Liar Liar; Dumb and Dumber; Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; Bruce Almighty; A Series of Unfortunate Events; Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues; Me, Myself & Irene; Horton Hears a Who!; The Cable Guy; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Yes Man; Peggy Sue Got Married; Earth Girls Are Easy; The Dead Pool; Future BMT: Kick-Ass 2; Dumb and Dumber To; Fun with Dick and Jane; Once Bitten; The Incredible Burt Wonderstone; Pink Cadillac; BMT: Batman Forever; The Number 23; Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Notes: I looked this up after, but he really never had a big downturn in his career as I had thought. Only somewhat recently did he take some time off before getting the Robotnik role in Sonic.)
Ian McNeice – ( Known For: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Valkyrie; Top Secret!; From Hell; No Escape; Valmont; Oliver Twist; Grizzly II: Revenge; A Life Less Ordinary; 84 Charing Cross Road; The Russia House; The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain; The Man Who Invented Christmas; Blackball; Personal Services; The Body; Funny Bones; The Cherry Orchard; The Fourth Angel; Whoops Apocalypse; Future BMT: The Black Dahlia; White Noise; The Beautician and the Beast; Year of the Comet; BMT: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Around the World in 80 Days; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Town & Country; Notes: Oddly his three children live in Africa, but this doesn’t seem to be connected to this movie somehow.)
Simon Callow – ( Known For: Amadeus; Notting Hill; A Room with a View; Four Weddings and a Funeral; Shakespeare in Love; James and the Giant Peach; Maurice; Howards End; Postcards from the Edge; Victoria & Abdul; Mindhorn; Arn: The Knight Templar; No Man’s Land; Viceroy’s House; Late Bloomers; Thunderpants; Blue Iguana; Hampstead; Bright Young Things; The Man Who Invented Christmas; Future BMT: The Phantom of the Opera; Street Fighter; BMT: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; Notes: Apparently he is an Orson Welles expert and biography.)
Budget/Gross – $30 million / Domestic: $108,385,533 (Worldwide: $212,385,533)
(I mean that is huge. I think Carrey was at a weird point in his career where this was his first sequel. Because he didn’t really do another one until the Dumb and Dumber sequel many years later.)
Rotten Tomatoes – 21% (6/28): Nature Calls in this Ace Ventura sequel, and it’s answered by the law of diminishing returns.
(Many of the complaints appear to be that Carrey is meaner in this film than the first, which I also think is correct. Again, the original was written without a solid grasp of the character who was written more as a zany take on noir detectives in general. In this they were grasping around trying to decide who this character was actually supposed to be.)
NY Times Short Review: Pet detective and sacred white bat. Sloppy, cheerfully gross sequel.
(It’s a classic. If the Ace Ventura 2 poster was a criminal that I was describing to a sketch artist it would have been caught in ten minutes. It’s not perfect or really artistic in any way, but nice font and that outfit is absolutely outrageous. B-)
Tagline(s) – New Animals. New Adventures. Same Hair (C-)
(Was the hair what everyone remembered most vividly from the first film? I guess maybe, although I never thought of it that way. This is a nicely constructed tagline, but boy is it lame.)
Keyword(s) – wisdom
Top 10: The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Forrest Gump (1994), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Future BMT: 88.5 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), 84.0 Prom Night (2008), 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 82.2 You Got Served (2004), 80.0 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009), 79.6 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), 78.8 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), 77.5 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 72.2 Bewitched (2005), 71.4 The Animal (2001), 69.3 College Road Trip (2008), 68.9 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), 68.4 Poltergeist (2015), 68.2 Yogi Bear (2010), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 65.6 The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), 65.5 Halloween Ends (2022), 65.3 Fat Albert (2004), 65.0 Scary Movie 4 (2006)
BMT: Batman & Robin (1997), The Emoji Movie (2017), The Last Airbender (2010), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Crossroads (2002), Norbit (2007), From Justin to Kelly (2003), The Master of Disguise (2002), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Little Man (2006), Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015), Taxi (2004), Freddy Got Fingered (2001), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Zoolander 2 (2016), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), The Boy Next Door (2015), Wild Wild West (1999), Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), Year One (2009), Are We There Yet? (2005), Big Momma’s House 2 (2006), Marmaduke (2010), The Roommate (2011), Tammy (2014), Abduction (2011), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005), A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), New York Minute (2004), Hot Pursuit (2015), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Big Momma’s House (2000), An American Haunting (2005), …
Best Options (Comedy): 88.5 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), 83.5 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), 79.6 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), 78.8 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), 77.5 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), 77.2 Superhero Movie (2008), 72.2 Bewitched (2005), 71.4 The Animal (2001), 69.3 College Road Trip (2008), 68.9 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), 68.2 Yogi Bear (2010), 67.6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), 65.3 Fat Albert (2004), 65.0 Scary Movie 4 (2006), 63.7 The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), 62.2 Madea Goes to Jail (2009), 61.5 Scooby-Doo (2002), 60.8 Like a Boss (2020), 60.8 Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), 60.6 Meet Dave (2008), 60.4 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015), 58.7 Scary Movie 2 (2001), 57.5 Maid in Manhattan (2002), 57.2 The Wedding Planner (2001), 56.9 Hanging Up (2000), 56.8 Land of the Lost (2009), 55.3 The Back-up Plan (2010), 55.0 Evan Almighty (2007), 54.5 The Smurfs 2 (2013), 54.0 The Smurfs (2011), 53.9 Annie (2014), 53.1 Aloha (2015), 52.6 Just My Luck (2006), 52.1 Loser (2000), 52.0 Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003), 51.7 View from the Top (2003), 51.5 Scary Movie 3 (2003), 51.4 Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000), 51.0 Little Fockers (2010), 50.9 Couples Retreat (2009), 50.7 Racing Stripes (2005), 50.6 Eight Crazy Nights (2002), …
(Yeah there are too many really to list. Originally we were going to do Dumb and Dumberer but then we botched it. But Ace Ventura 2 is secretly amazing so I’m not too worked up about it.)
Welcome to Earf (HoE Number 14) – The shortest path through The Movie Database cast lists using only BMT films is: Jim Carrey is No. 1 billed in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and No. 1 billed in The Number 23, which also stars Virginia Madsen (No. 2 billed) who is in Firewall (No. 3 billed) which also stars Harrison Ford (No. 1 billed) who is in Hollywood Homicide (No. 1 billed) which also stars Josh Hartnett (No. 2 billed) who is in Here on Earth (No. 3 billed) => (1 + 1) + (2 + 3) + (1 + 1) + (2 + 3) = 14. There is no shorter path at the moment.
Notes – When driving to the consulate for the first time, Jim Carrey forgot his lines, so instead started singing the theme from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Both actors stayed in character and the director loved it so they kept it in.
According to Simon Callow, Jim Carrey didn’t really want to make the film, which made on-set experiences awkward.
According to Jeff Daniels, Jim Carrey had explained to him the reasons why he didn’t like the sequel much. He disliked the whole “Ace is afraid of bats” angle, as he found it to be cheap, and even fought with the director about changing the script so that Ace was merely allergic to bats. Carrey was also very nervous about the film’s depiction of the native characters, and that people might take offense to them. He’s even surprised the film hasn’t been outright banned.
Jim Carrey spent a lot of time off sick, which affected the contract of actor Simon Callow. Callow’s contract had actually expired before he could finish filming his scenes. Despite this, he wasn’t paid overtime as Carrey’s illness was regarded as an “Act of God” in the contract. Which Carrey himself claims as “unfair”. Since Callow already had other commitments in London, the producers suggest he flew back regularly in first-class, as the contract had stated. It wasn’t until later that Callow found out that the producers were deducting the cost of his plane tickets from his overall salary. In his words he “finished up working almost for nothing”.
Despite Jim Carrey only doing this movie due to contractual obligation, the studio attempted to get him interested in doing another Ace Ventura movie several times throughout the years to which he declined.
Jim Carrey was paid $15 million to reprise the part of Ace Ventura, exactly half of the film’s $30 million budget. It was actually the film’s writer and Carrey’s friend Steve Oedekerk who suggested he’d negotiate with Morgan Creek Productions for this. Conveniently, Oedekerk himself became the film’s director, who then finalized this decision.
Up until Dumb and Dumber To (2014), this was the only sequel to a Jim Carrey film to actually feature Carrey, Likewise none of the actors with the exception of Carrey return from the first film.
Jim Carrey said that after doing this movie he realized he could not spend his entire life doing Ace Ventura movies. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk felt the same way, and also moved onto other projects.
The language used by the Wachootoo chief and in Ouda’s Wachootoo translation is isiXhosa, an Nguni language spoken in South Africa. IsiXhosa is the native language of Nelson Mandela and Miriam Makeba a.k.a. Mama Africa. The Xhosa people (amaXhosa) make up the second largest ethnic group in South Africa after their close relatives the Zulus (amaZulu).
It’s power to the people time here at BMT as we are focusing on winners or nominees of people/teen/kid’s choice awards. The only awards that really matter. The info on these awards are pretty sparse seeing as they are run through Gallup and so are just kind of polling name recognition, but oh what a surprise when I went to check the March 15, 1984 NYTimes:
There is more info on this advertisement than on the wikipedia page! I feel like we have a right to know that Flashdance was nominated for Favorite Motion Picture and wasn’t just the winner of Favorite Song from a Motion Picture. Also, shouldn’t we be privy to the fact that both R2D2 and C3PO were scheduled to appear alongside Swedish Chef and Meryl Streep? Now we just need to get our hands on an actual copy of the special Gallup poll.
To recap, Alex is a Pittsburgh area steel worker who dreams of being a professional dancer. But she lacks money (and the confidence) so spends her days welding away and her nights flash dancing her heart out. One night her boss, Nick, shows up to her show and is entranced. He basically gets HR on the phone and is like “Call me The Mask, cause someone should stop me.” He insists they date and ultimately they do, even as his wealth, age, and ex-wife try to get in the way. She goes through a bunch of trials and tribulations involving her best friend becoming a stripper (she says “stop that!”), Nick being spotted at a charity function with his ex-wife (she says “stop that!”) and their subsequent break-up when she finds out he pulled some strings to get her an audition at a prestigious dance school despite her lack of experience (she’s like “stop that!”). Ultimately, though, she decides to go through with the audition. Why? Because she’s a great goddamn dancer, that’s why! Obviously, she blows all the judges’ minds with her dancing and smooches Nick for hours. THE END.
I really, really liked this movie. Don’t get me wrong, the script is paper thin. I could almost feel it fluttering in the wind threatening to fly away as I watched the movie. But it is perfection in how they are able to take that script and jazz is up with pure, unadulterated entertainment. I remember taking a film class in college and being asked one day by the TA what my favorite movie was. Other students were like Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, The General… just throwing out classics. When it came to me I said the truth (at the time): Anchorman and the reason I gave was that it was pure comedy. Everything about it was meant to be funny. Even the parts that appeared not to be funny, like the love interest, was turned on its head to be a joke. And I thought it was perfect execution of pure jokes. This is perfect execution of pure entertainment. The script is trash. The plot is nonsense. It doesn’t age perfectly and it portended a wave of cocaine-fueled erotic thrillers that was… not pure entertainment. But boy… what a feeling.
Hot Take Clam Bake! I smell a scandal, ladies and gentlemen. Hear me out, it appears like Nick pulls strings at the dance academy so that Alex can fulfill her dreams. I don’t buy it. I’m thinking the chain of events is this. 1. Nick is caught with his ex-wife at the ballet. 2. Alex and him have a huge blow up at the plant that everyone sees. 3. Gossip abounds, which reaches HR. 4. Nick is brought in to talk, this is not his first strike. 5. Nick’s like “No, no, you see she doesn’t even work here anymore, she’s going to dance school and is just working till the term starts.” 6. HR is like “Really?” 7. Nick is like “Yeah, definitely.” 8. HR is like “OK, well that’s good. That’s OK.” 9. NICK IS SCRAMBLING. Alex doesn’t have any experience! Who does he know on the board?! Where is his rolodex?!… and eventually… 27. Smooching away his problem with Alex after she wins the day. Phew. Hot Take Temperature: Pittsburgh, but it’s like mid-August.
Patrick?
Patrick
‘Ello everyone! I’m a maniac. And this movie makes me feel like we were witnessing the birth of a whole genre of movies. Let’s go!
That genre? Something along the lines of “cheapo film made with a no name actress we dress in very skimpy clothing”. This movie was a phenomenon. The third highest grossing film (domestic) of 1983 after The Return of the Jedi and Tootsie. Wikipedia claims it made over $200 million worldwide, although given the time period the number cited in the lawsuit surrounding the film ($150 million) seems more likely. $90 million domestic, $60 million worldwide. This film was made for $7 million.
Here’s a mostly unfounded theory. This film is a romantic drama. But romantic dramas are tough and often don’t make money (see something like previous BMT classic A Change of Seasons) because when they are bad people don’t like them. So you need a genre with some vim, one where even when it is bad people still find it exciting and interesting. Enter: Action, Horror, or Thriller. Action is expensive, Horror is gross, and thus the Erotic Thriller is born. That a dime-a-dozen cheap thriller script, add in a young actress, et voila. Money printer. Until it wasn’t I guess, the puritanism of the late-90s kind of caught up with it in the end.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the actual genre (which tends to be either legal or detective thrillers) was born out of a glut of noir films still being written when the genre was effectively dead.
Oh the movie? Solid stuff. Really really entertaining. Jennifer Beale was genuinely good. And the underdog story worked well. A very Billy Elliot delivery in the end as well with the dance scene.
But yeah, the main issue is that sure: three dances (first dance, Maniac, and the audition) you can chalk up to necessity. The outfits? Fine, that’s what she wears when dancing. But the strip club scene? The workout scene? The gratuitous stretching? The dinner outfit. There are five or six bits which are obviously just there for us to ogle Beale and 40 years later it reads pretty gross. Unfortunately without a bunch of it the movie would be too short, otherwise I would wonder what a Not Gross Cut would look like and whether it would read better.
There is a Peanuts short called It’s a Flashdance, Charlie Brown. It’s on Apple+. I watched it. Unfortunately Snoopy doesn’t do the water thing at the beginning scene which is called “Flashbeagle”. So that gets a D at best.
A huge Setting as a Character (Where?) for Pittsburgh where our hero is a welder who really just dreams of being a dancer. Secret Holiday Film (When?) Alert, because we have a big scene set during Halloween. And this is definitely a Good film.
Read about the sequel 40 years in the making in Flashdance: Generations in the Quiz. Cheerios,
Bad Movie Twins 