With the release of Immortals we’re diving back into the overused well that is Greek Mythology. the always reliable John Hurt opens in the film in narration, telling the tale of a war in Heaven which results in the imprisonment of the losing faction, newly renamed as Titans. There’s a hint of an idea here, suggesting that the losers were not necessarily evil, just on the wrong side, but it’s not taken anywhere. instead things quickly move into far more standard good vs. evil territory as we’re introduced to honest and hard working Theseus. Living in a strange little village situated in a tiny rocky outcrop overlooking the sea, Theseus enjoys a simple life with his family. that is until the he finds his home is in the direct path of an advancing hostile army lead by the Hyperion, King of Crete. the king is searching for a weapon of great power: the Epirus Bow. Having being wronged by the Gods (at least in his eyes), Hyperion seeks to fire the bow at the prison holding the Titans, thus unleashing them to wreak havoc across the Earth and Heaven – presumably because he got out of bed the wrong side this morning.
To be honest, that seems as good a motivation as anything shown in the film. Early on, while he’s indiscriminately setting a high priest on fire, Hyperion gives a speech about his family dying of disease despite his prayers. well, I can imagine that was fairly traumatic. Traumatic enough to go on a killing spree? perhaps. Traumatic enough to declare war on Heaven and Earth? Er… hang on. One that will likely kill all of humanity while you’re at it? not so sure on that one. If you’re going for tragic villain, then far more important than his motivation are the actions he’s going to take. No sooner has Hyperion opened up to his pain than he’s straight back to torturing enemies and allies alike whilst committing that most generic of tropes: killing loyal henchmen who fail or displease him. Straight out of a badly written comic book, he elicits no sympathy or interest. I find it fascinating that the actor who portrays him, Mickey Rourke, was quoted recently saying how badly his role in Iron Man 2 was butchered down from an interesting anti-hero to what we saw in the final cut. I wonder if in a year’s time, he’ll be making the same complaints about Immortals; since at least Ivan Vanko had an interesting parrot.
Once Hyperion’s army descends on Theseus’ small village, all hell breaks loose. that is to say beautifully-staged, well-choreographed hell breaks loose. the trailers elicited comparison with Zack Snyder’s 300 and it’s well deserved. Heavily-filtered cameras bathe everything in dusty sepia tones, whilst over-cranked slow-mo is called up whenever a sword or pike is swung, jabbed or thrown. I’m a sucker for this type of action cinematography (see this year’s appropriately named Sucker Punch, also from Snyder, for plenty of examples) but in the interests of balance, I’m aware that others (such as Alex) are not. Suffice to say if a significant amount of this style of film making puts you off then stay well away from Immortals as every action sequence contains at least a little of it. most spectacular of these scenes are any in which the Gods make their presence felt. Often in a film like this, the Gods struggle to convey a powerful otherworldly presence. when a lowly peasant is played by a Hollywood heartthrob with a bursting six pack and a servant girl is portrayed by the latest cover star of Vogue, any God often ends up looking like an equally beautiful actor in slightly fancier costumes. not so in Immortals. thanks to some stunningly impractical battle armour and, yes, more slow-mo, every time the Gods get directly involved in the lives of men there’s a real feeling of power and majesty beyond human comprehension. the climactic battle sequence involving Zeus and his fellows might even be one of my contenders for the Jadie’s best scene of the Year!
If that happens however, it will likely be the only memorable part of an otherwise largely disappointing film. Theseus attracts a small band of followers including the Oracle, who knows the location of the Epirus Bow, a mute monk – another victim of Hyperion’s grandstanding and, inexplicably, Stephen Dorff. we follow the group through their “adventure”, interspersed with more scenes of Hyperion being nasty. Theseus has a personal stake in defeating Hyperion but you never feel much urgency or anger from him. You’re always left at a distance from all these characters, never feeling like they are real human beings. “Superman to be” Henry Cavill certainly looks the part without his shirt on. Acting wise, however, there’s very little to inspire confidence. the majority of the film he spends sleepwalking through the stunning vistas, fighting anyone and anything he meets. One rabble-rousing speech in the final third works fairly well, although I could easily imagine sniggers being raised at its execution, especially if you’ve not “gone with” the film’s odder elements to that point.
The rest of the cast try their hardest but all are asked to play second fiddle to “ineffectual hero against textbook villain”. Freida Pinto, dreadfully underused in ROTPOTA; gets marginally more screen time here as the all-knowing Oracle. Luke Evans’s casting as a youthful Zeus certainly plays against expectations but saddles the actor with the kind of weighty dialogue that an older thesp would churn out in his sleep. Other characters come and go with little introduction or back story, and though they look stunning, the Gods are an entirely interchangeable identikit team. As with his directorial debut the Cell, Tarsem Singh has once again displayed both his eye for stunning shot composition and otherworldly design choices, but also his blind spot for interesting characters and emotional involvement. Immortals never really gels into much beyond a series of stunning canvases, any of which would look fantastic in an art gallery (or at least on my living room wall), but running at 24 frames per second in a cinema, leave something to be desired. the comparisons to 300 are fair and accurate – Immortals contains some jaw-dropping set pieces, but not a single interesting character or story element to connect them.
A film about shirtless men hitting each other in slow-mo. It’s like someone has been hacking into my dreams…
Related posts:
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) review by That Film Guy
- ’300′ Producers Talk ’300: Battle Of Artemisia’ & ‘Piranha 3DD’
- Wednesday Comics Review: Invincible Iron Man 503 And Avengers 12 Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors
- Beyond the Border: Riding Solo in Mexico (DVD Review)
- 31 Days of Horror Short Film Review: The Room at the Top of the Stairs