Fool me once... Ironically, the Wrath of the Titans trailer looks spectacular in 3D.

As you may recall, the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans became the whipping boy for lousy 3D-conversions after Warner Bros. hastily converted the 2D feature in order to cash in on the success of Avatar.  The film opened with over $60 million (mostly due to some terrific trailers) and eventually grossed nearly $500 million worldwide.  Alas, the picture was critically-slammed and took it extra-hard on the chin for some truly terrible 3D-conversion work, which was barely in evidence and served to only make the film so dark as to be occasionally unwatchable.  The Jonathan Liebesman-directed sequel, Wrath of the Titans, is being released March 30th.  Judging by the 3D version of the trailer, Warner Bros. doesn't plan on making the same mistake twice.

It was just one of a handful of trailers that played before Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which, by the way, looked so dark, dirty, and fuzzy that playing it on Pacific Winnetka's 80-foot "Immersive 3D" screen almost counts as sabotage for the $17 format.  But I had a free ticket and I wanted to sample the super-sized screen and check out some 3D trailers.  Paranorman looked fine, although it seemingly lacked the hypnotic quality of Coraline.  The Amazing Spider-Man looked better on the big screen than it does on a computer screen (as did Prometheus), but the 3D didn't quite have the same 'Spidey swings into the audience' effect for me that it's allegedly had for others.  But Wrath of the Titans is easily the sharpest-looking 3D trailer in circulation at the moment.  Obviously, you can't watch the above trailer in 3D on your computer, but since I never posted it when it debuted back in December, I suppose now is as good a time as any.  Point being, the 2.5 minute trailer looked eye-poppingly intense, with truly impressive 3D visuals and an uber-bright palette that seems an overt apology for how bad the first picture looked with that extra dimension.

I have no idea whether or not Wrath of the Titans will be a better movie than the thoroughly mediocre Clash of the Titans, although I'm among the few who actually likes Jonathan Liebesman (I respected the flawed, but unexpectedly procedural Battle: Los Angeles and infamously loved Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning).  But there is little doubt based on what I saw the other night that it will be a fine example of how to make people happy with their choice to pay the 3D-upcharge.  Assuming I don't end up attending a press screening, it's just the kind of thing I wouldn't mind watching on an 80-foot screen.

Scott Mendelson