Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Immortals brings the classical world back onto the silver screen with a reimagined story about the Greek hero Theseus. Embellished with battle cries and severed body parts, the movie is enjoyable entertainment but is far from spectacular.
For those who aren’t familiar with the new D-BOX system, it is the latest addition to movie theatres to help enhance the viewers’ experience and make it feel like they are actually a part of the film. And at only $21.99 for a 3D D-BOX ticket, you too can experience a moving seat that vibrates, raises, lowers and jerks in accordance to what is happening on the screen.
It’s not worth the money. Sure it’s fun for about the first 15 minutes when it feels like you’re on a ride at Disney World, but soon you forget you are even in this special moving seat.
The storyline for Immortals is a mash up of names from Greek mythology and words that sound like they could be Greek. Essentially, the mortal Theseus (Henry Cavill, The Tudors, and our latest Superman incarnate), chosen by the gods because “he does not fear pain or humiliation”, is supposed to defeat the tyrannical King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke, Sin City, The Expendables) whose army of masked soldiers is laying waste to the Hellenic world.
The plot gets no thicker than that, although it does get personal when Hyperion murders Theseus’ mother. Hyperion seeks the Epirus bow to release the Titans from Mount Tartarus in order to exact revenge on the gods for the loss of his family. He is the basic stock-type bad guy.
Director Tarsem Singh presents a very stylized and almost minimalistic version of Greece and Olympus. There are times when it’s hard to believe that the setting is supposed to be Greece. The sets for the film consist of a bizarre infusion of post-modern architecture with splashes of something that looks Greek. Some walls are adorned with fish hangings and kylix inspired murals, which simply make it look like bad interior design.
The gods on Mount Olympus (who have been scaled down to six) are also featured in this same stylized fashion. Garbed in all gold, these divinities look like they came straight out of a modeling agency.
Along Theseus’ journey, he meets up with Phaedra the virgin oracle (Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire), whose visions of the future help guide them on their quest, Stavros the thief (Stephen Dorff, World Trade Centre) and a monk (Greg Bryk) who remains nameless as he cuts out his own tongue partway through the film (yet appears unfazed).
While the movie looks promising with this diverse group of characters, that is soon dispelled with the overemphasis on graphics, special effects and zero emphasis on character development.
Sure, the landscapes look stunning and fantastical and the fight scenes are well choreographed and bloody. But would it hurt to add some depth to the cardboard characters? They’re so thinly developed that a slight breeze could blow them over.
Character interaction is mediocre at best, and this is highlighted with possibly the world’s worst sex scene between Cavill and Pinto; so much for being the virgin oracle. The entire scene is awkward, mechanical and unrealistic. There is no chemistry between these characters and actors and their relationship seems forced and unnecessary.
The upside to all of this though, is that Rourke as Hyperion makes for a very enjoyable and sadistic villain. While his motives are unoriginal and cliché, Hyperion’s lack of mercy and unique way of killing his prisoners and subordinates is quite interesting.
Immortals does not follow the typical story of Theseus, or Hyperion for that matter – who is actually a Titan, not a human king. So while there is no Minotaur, there is a man with a metal bull’s head who tries to kill Theseus; that’s close enough, right?
The hype this movie inspired did not come close to matching the actual product. Advertising was sure to market the film’s production team, which also previously worked on 300, yet Immortals possesses none of the finesse and subtlety that 300 had. The Frank Miller adaptation far outweighs it in character development, acting, storyline and even score.
As a leading man, Cavill is inspiring, but he is no Leonidas.
The film leaves the audience wanting more; more fighting, more internal conflict, more grandeur. For example: the final battle (for the mortals) takes place in a hallway the size of a walk-in closet. This makes for a very difficult viewing session.
For the Olympians though, their final battle is against hundreds of mini-Titans who look like they just arrived from the set of The Grudge. While the gods are great fighters, they have no powers other than some toy weapons and super strength, which is a big disappointment. Zeus is not Zeus without some form of thunder.
Immortals is enjoyable, yet not memorable. But hey, at least it’s not as bad as Clash of the Titans.
For more, check out:
The Underground: http://www.the-underground.ca/author/leigh-cavanaugh/
The Messenger: http://theutscmessenger.com/?tag=writer-leigh-cavanaugh
The Underground: http://www.the-underground.ca/author/leigh-cavanaugh/
The Messenger: http://theutscmessenger.com/?tag=writer-leigh-cavanaugh
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