The Gods Need a Hero… Immortals Reviewed
Feels like we’re in the waning years of the swords and sandals epic. A combination of Troy and Alexander effectively put the genre on ice for the better part of a decade, only to be resurrected by the vibrant and stylized bloodfest that was 300. Nobody has really come close to nailing the formula since, with the abysmal Clash of the Titans remake the only studio tentpole in that general vicinity. Yet here we are, another challenger about to enter the ring, and with a decidedly more visual flair than its recent contemporary. Does it have what it takes to sit at Zeus’s table?
Immortals Review
By Ryan Hamelin
Movie Grade: A-
Immortals is basically everything I wanted Clash of the Titans to be that it wasn’t. A lot of that comes from the director, as Tarsem has a lot more clout in the independent circuit than Leterrier ever could, giving his “vision” a lot more weight. He’s not the kind of guy you hire to direct something and then try to piece together a different cut later on. The shots are so precise, the storytelling so specific, that it’s a marvel to behold the finished product, a large-scale swords and sandals epic with a singular focus and good character fundamentals. Given the amount of control he had, there are a handful of rough patches, as well as some unintentional laughter sprinkled throughout, but the majority of the movie works so well, it’s easy to forgive its less refined ideas.
Henry Cavill plays Theseus, a peasant watched over by the gods in the style of classical mythology. You’ll know him soon as the new Superman, and I’ve got to say, he certainly has the charisma to pull it off. Where Routh was a more doey, Reeves wanna be guy, Cavill has the jaw to be the man of steel, and if he’s still in the kind of shape he was for this film, the training should be no obstacle at all. He carries the movie with a quiet confidence, never really letting the ridiculousness around him rub off the way it does on some of the other performances. The movie achieves a similar look to 300 with a lot of green screen photography, and I can only imagine how much harder it is for an actor to work in that kind of environment. Mickey Rourke plays King Hyperion, a man bent on releasing the Titans from their cage with a mythical bow. He does significantly better here than he did in Iron Man 2, but that’s because he’s back to playing himself. Frieda Pinto gets the short end of the stick a bit, being written as a one note virgin oracle, but she makes up for it with all the things she does that aren’t dialogue based, delivering a kind of grace that grounds her, despite her situation.
The biggest thing that I’ve been asked is “How’re the gods?” We’re used to seeing movies with Zeus just sort’ve chilling up in Olympus and not really acting in any significant way to advance the plot. Here, you get to see the gods in action, and not just creating naturally occurring phenomena, but kicking major ass, and it’s some of the most visually impressive and awe-inspiring stuff in the movie. Sure the human battles are cool, but we’ve seen The Lord of the Rings, and the filmmakers know that. Their trump card is how the mythology intersects with the mortal realm they’ve created, and boy does it get messy. I also really enjoyed Luke Evan’s work as Zeus, as he plays it way older than you would expect from such a young actor, making you believe in how ancient he is without needing a gigantic beard. I liked that all the gods looked like they were in their prime, because honestly that makes a lot more sense than having immortals who would visibly age. I’ll tell you one thing, when a god lands on earth, you know something cool is about to happen, and the last half hour makes up for any lingering issues you may have with earlier portions of the film.
Immortals is a classically structured, visually wonderful bit of Greek fantasy. Even the post-converted 3D was awe inspiring from time to time, though it certainly would’ve been better had the movie been shot in the format to start. The film feels big, but more artfully than realistically, letting big landscapes play as painted backdrops instead of truly believable settings. It’s got just about everything you could want out of a movie buried in it somewhere, and all I heard as I left the screening was variations on “That was awesome” and “I’ll see that again.” At a tight 98 minutes, it also doesn’t overstay its welcome, giving you enough to be satisfied but not getting slow or self-indulgent in the process. I’ve got to admit, I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy the film at all, but it thoroughly impressed. Now I’m curious to see what Tarsem does with his Snow White project, especially when given this kind of budget to work with
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