One action sequence notable for a creative use of violence involves a god clashing viciously with humans. Though forbidden to interfere with mortal fights, Ares (Daniel Sharman) breaks the rule to rescue Theseus from Hyperion’s legions. He takes his hammer and moves quickly from soldier to soldier, smashing their heads before they have time to react. The action is slowed down, creating a burst of color that looks almost like a flower blooming, if that flower were made of brains and cartilage.

“I wondered, how do you make a world in which gods and humans can fight?” Mr. Singh said. “You have to make your own rules.”

He proceeded on the theory that the gods’ version of real time would move so fast that humans would be virtually stationary. In battling a god, humans wouldn’t stand a chance. But Mr. Singh also wanted to distinguish this look from that of “300,” in which the action was sped up, then slowed down. “There was a commercial I did for Polaroid about 18 years ago that had that effect,” said Mr. Singh, who is 50. “Then I did a Nike commercial with it and thought it was a dead topic after that. It’s very cheap to do. And I wasn’t interested in doing it again.”