As remakes go, 2010's Clash of the Titans paid suitable lip service (possibly in Greek) to the 1981 classic. So much so that you didn't have to have a power of the gods to foresee a sequel.

It's ten years on since Perseus (Sam Worthington) put the Kraken in its place, and he now leads a humble existence with his young son Helius (John Bell). He's pretty much left all that demi-god stuff behind him now, focusing instead on raising his son like any other mortal man.

But families are funny things, particularly when your father happens to be the god Zeus (Liam Neeson). He decides to visit his son Perseus and ask for his help. It turns out that the gods have found themselves in a bit of a jam; over the years they've found, somewhat embarrassingly, that fewer and fewer humans have been worshipping them, which has actually made them all weaker.

Perseus decides that this isn't his fight however, and wishes Zeus the best of luck. This comes as good news to Hades (Ralph Fiennes) who, not one to miss out on taking advantage of a situation, believes that there's no better time than now to get back at his god lot for making him an outcast.

So Hades, along with Perseus' own brother Ares (Edgar Ramirez), capture Zeus and begin to drain him of all his powers so they can unleash Kronos: the father of all the remaining titans, who has become a truly awesome figure.

Although he may have given up on the gods, Perseus feels he cannot do the same to his father, so when he learns of his demise, he decides there's only one thing for him to do – bring him back. The downside is that he has to go all the way to hell to do so.

I admit it, I'm disappointed. this isn't what I was expecting from my make-over with Gok Wan.

With the first film, Warner Bros. got the fairly inexperienced French director Louis Letterier to direct it. Considering the amount these films cost, it seemed a bit of a gamble. One that luckily paid off for them, as it turns out. Once again the studio has gone exactly the same way with Jonathan Liebseman, who has an equally unimpressive track record to date, that includes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning and Battle Los Angeles.

Somewhat remarkably, it doesn't seem to be that bad of a choice. Liebseman appears to have picked up on pretty much what made the first one a success and improved on the formula. This one, for instance, has more humour. This is helped massively by the casting of Toby Kebbell as Agenor; just as he did with his role in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Kebbell has the canny ability to emit a natural charm and deliver witty one liners. Considering how worthy the series can come across at times, his scenes are welcome relief.

And then there's Bill Nighy. You know, Bill Nighy, that famous Northern actor. And by 'Northern' we mean of course from Surrey. He plays Hephaestus in the film with an extraordinarily alarming accent that could be Yorkshire-ish. Now there's no denying Nighy's acting ability, but for someone who has played up on his Home Counties accent his entire career, accents clearly don't come easy to him. Particularly not this gruesome effort. Despite its inaccuracy however, it's still oddly amusing to hear these sounds trip out of Nighy's mouth, of all people.

Liebesman also handles the special effects pretty well too. The only real problem is, there aren't nearly enough of them. This film is one of those really rare occasions when it would actually have benefited from being slightly longer. Although the fight scenes are well choreographed, they just don't seem to last. The fight with the Minotaur for instance, is over in almost a blink of an eye; the irony is of course that the one involving the Cyclopes lasts considerably longer.

And although directed with an assured pace, it does feel a tad rushed in places. The finale itself is also on the anti-climatic side; not only is it brief in length, but it also disappoints by not being quite on the titanic scale you'd expect.

Still, this sequel certainly builds on all the elements that made the first so enjoyable, making it an overall worthy successor.

If you were one of those praying to the gods for a decent sequel, your prayers have been well and truly answered.