@MovieJay's Review of the Immortals

Maybe it's the release date that doesn't favor Immortals since inexplicably it's scoring half the approval rating at rottentomatoes.com that Thor got (that absolutely stupefying and desolate release from late spring). A movie can be an incoherent mess but win favor with critics as well as audiences going into the mindless summer season, but in the fall our senses sharpen and we sink a little deeper into our seats hoping every new release carries with it a chance we'll discover a bonafide best picture nominee.

Sadly, Immortals is not a suitable candidate for that prize, but a critic's got to be honest enough to admit when they feel a tingle for a movie, and holy-raging-iron-bull, Batman, I had a serious tingle running through me for awhile there until finally the weight of all it's preposterousness kept me in like-but-not-love territory.

An astute young woman sitting close to me after the screening gave me a long checklist of assurances that Immortals was pulling a fast one on us. There were "historical inaccuracies" of its tale culled from Greek Mythology of Gods and earthly peasants, Oracles and heroes, searing visuals, and a dastardly King who literally chews up the scenery. So what? There are actually 12 Gods and not 6, as the movie would have us believe?! The horror!

To the degree that Immortals takes liberties, it's hard to feel outraged because it's having too much fun satiating our appetites for new and glorious images at the movies, and on that note it's absolutely breathtaking to sit back and drink in.

It's all so simple: King Hyperion is a big, bad, brooding menace of a man, the kinda guy who does everything out loud, not least of which his heavy breathing in between words he's speaking while chewing on his cud and other things. He's played with relish by Mickey Rourke who, together with his army of vast and faithful CGI compatriots, are about to take over Greece. Until the movie begins and he finds his plans are delayed because of a screenplay that requires him to fetch the hidden Epirus Bow, a weapon that is able to shoot arrows out of thin air. But in order to find it, he'll need to find the Oracle Phaedra, played by Freida Pinto, and will have to fight off a plucky peasant in Theseus (Henry Cavill aka the next Superman), as well as a range of Gods who just can't help themselves from making cameos when they just can't take the suspense any longer.

Hyperion will exploit the Oracles, whose powers can be used to find the bow, and once it's in his possession he'll use it to unleash the Titans in a fight to kill the Gods. The Titans are a frustrated band of blue characters imprisoned in a sadistic state for the last few epochs. Or was it eons? Anyway, they look awfully unhappy at the predicament they're in, and it's a perfectly terrifying and hideous shot of them that tips us off at the beginning of the wild imagination of its director, Tarsem Singh, who made the equally breath-taking The Cell and the even-better The Fall, with Immortals ranking just behind those two.

Given a straightforward David & Goliath-type of swashbuckling adventure, this movie could have been great. Spartacus great. Braveheart great. But interrupting the story of the young, buff, clear-eyed peasant Theseus rallying his people with pure raw energy in a fight for civilization against Hyperion, the misstep here comes with the subplot focusing on the Gods, with Zeus (Luke Evans) making bold pronouncements about how the Gods may never interfere with humans, unless of course things get really bad for the humans, in which case the Gods come swooping down from on-high, an unfortunate place that appears to have no widescreen tv's for them to see up-close what is going on down there. The Gods keep us from really caring about or investing ourselves in the characters on Earth because their appearances undercut the tension in the for ward action of what is at times a powerful and gathering narrative with horrifying implications, brutal fight scenes, and one particular scene of pure evil involving what appears to be a great, big immobile metallic bull with smoke and screams emanating from its nostrils. The movie even gets the romance right, with a very well photographed and sexy scene of intimacy between Phaedra and Theseus, even if it is at least a minute too short.

See this movie for the performances of Mickey Rourke and the star-making vehicle for Henry Cavill and to drink in the beautiful imagery, but don't expect a home run, just a ground-rule double.

Immortals *** out of 4

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Louis' Review of Immortals - And he really digs it

"Long before man roamed these lands, there was a War in Heaven"

Thus begins Tarsem Singh's 'Immortals.'

Set in Ancient Greece, the Gods having retreated to the Heavens to allow Man to flourish. King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) is in search of the one thing that will give him the power to conquer the world, release the Titans and destroy humanity with the legendary Epirus Bow. While observing the progress Hyperion is making, the King of the Gods, Zeus (Luke Evans) reminds all the other Gods (who want to lend a helping hand to the humans) that they cannot interfere in human affairs.

While Hyperion has been doing what he has been doing, Theseus (Henry Cavill), a fatherless peasant has been quietly trained by an old man (John Hurt) to become a warrior.  After a series of events that rip Theseus from the life he knows to the life, as the fates would have it he was destined for, Theseus is put on a journey that will eventually collide with King Hyperion and his ambitions of destruction. Along the way we meet Phaedra (Freida Pinto), an Oracle whom along with thief Stavros (Stephen Dorf, ) and a Monk (Greg Br yk) join with Theseus, in varying degrees of loyalty, to stop the King's mad quest.

The story is heroic in both its narrative and it's majestic visuals.  This is a tale of good versus evil and at no time is one left confused as to which side a character is on.  Sides have been chosen, a fight is coming. It will be brutish and it will be harsh.  One man hates the Gods, one is their chosen defender.  The fights are frequent, the violence unflinching, however never without purpose.

This is a beautiful film to watch. With an amazing eye for details, Tarsem has taken Charley and Vlas Parlapanides screenplay and made a vibrant, living world in which the characters passions and the violence that surrounds them unfolds in a proper manner.  The sound effects add an unexpected yet stunning layer that highlights the visual aspect of the film.  While there is a long held tradition of using sound and music to help set the tone for a scene, with Immortals, Tarsem implements this in a unique way by which both subtle and overt sounds combine in unexpected ways to highlight the action on screen. This is some of the best use of audio to be found.  As much thought and detail went into the sound as did the visual.

Henry Cavill is excellently cast as the hero, having both the physique and acting talents the role calls for.  His character develops from trained peasant warrior fighting for his family to savior of humanity. It his performance that allows us to become swept up in his fight.  The stunning Freida Pinto does more than just add physical beauty to her scenes, she brings a depth and emotion to a role that is usually pretty and not much else.  In other films Oracles tend to be untouchable, aloof and only there as a plot device.  Not so here. She is a woman who has visions, but a woman first. Her conflict is the passions and desire beyond what her role as Oracle demand of her and that is what makes her character that much more interesting.

I cannot think of a role better suited for Mickey Rourke at this point in his career  Nor can I imagine any other actor playing this part.  King Hyperion is a man who has lived a hard, difficult life for a very, very long time. He hates the world and uses violence to show everyone just how much he hates it. His harsh, gravelly voice and scarred face are great outward representations of a dead soul.

This is an action film.  Fantasy action, but action none the less.  Based loosely on Greek mythology, it takes liberties with both names and events.  This should not deter anyone except Greek scholars from enjoying the narrative.  The scenes themselves are quite well done, the action being the highlight and real star of the film.  The violence comes hard and fast, unrelenting in its intensity and unflinching in its brutality.  The film does show every gory detail and there are plenty as there are numerous killings throughout.  The use of slow-motion gives a heightened sense of the actors movements.  This is not a film for the timid.   The Gods do eventually get involved (how could they not?), and it provides some of the more interesting sequences.  You understand why they are Gods when they seek retribution.

While comparisons to '300' would be on the surface legitimate, I would consider this a much broader story, a mini epic.  Each scene has purpose, adding elements to the whole without either being gratuitous nor boring.  There are no lagging moments, the pace is well timed.  The dialogue is a bit strained at times and some scenes do not quite add as much to the whole as expected.

This can be all be overlooked as the visual and audio will more than make up for shortcomings of the plot.  In the end, this is a highly stylized, violent fantasy film that will appeal mainly to male audiences.

One I highly recommend.

Filed under  //  Freida Pinto   Henry Cavill   Luke Evans   Mickey Rourke   Oracle   Stephen Dorff   Tarsem Singh   Theseus   film   nerdiness   pop-culture   tumblrize   xavierpop  
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