With a bit more style than substance than I would have liked, the Immortals is still very successful at what it does and is definitely worth a look at a matinee.

Immortals is a retelling of the myth of Theseus although it is much like any other movie based on Greek mythology in that a shitload of liberties were taken with the actual myth. In this treatment we see King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) trying to find the Empirius bow to unleash the Titans on the world in order to usurp the gods. Zeus (John Hurt/Luke Evans) charges Theseus (Henry Cavill) to stop him. Theseus teams up with Pheadra (Freida Pinto) an oracle who can predict the future and Stavros (Stephen Dorff) a thief, to go after Hyperion and keep him from royally messing everything up. In the meantime, Zeus won’t let any of the other gods intervene unless the Titans are released. This is curious given that Zeus has trained Theseus to be a huge badass since he was a child but no one has ever accused the gods’ motives of making any sense anyway especially when it comes to Hollywood treatments.

I am a pretty big fan of Greek mythology and I really wish that one of these days someone would make a movie that would stay true to the actual myths that they are based on. Time and time again we get films that take pretty big liberties with the source material and it is not really for the better. Sure somethings would be difficult to translate to the screen but the changes often made are not ones that improve the material or even usually make sense.

In the case of the Immortals, the changes are not really all that offensive and while it does not follow the Theseus myth particularly well it does deliver on the general feel and spirit of the mythology particularly in terms of how it handles the gods. The gods are presented here as being very young and attractive and that makes a lot more sense to me than more typical depictions of them in which they are old and decrepit or shiftless layabouts who don’t do anything. When the gods get into action here they are pretty badass and lay waste to mortals who try to stand up to them. They are also killable as well which is also nice. We are not likely to ever see Ares cry like a bitch for getting cut like he does in the Iliad but at least we get to see that the gods are pretty awesome but also fallible. I really enjoyed their treatment here and that is one of the things that made me ultimately like the film as much as I did.

The strongest selling point for me here is that it is directed by Tarsem Singh. I am a pretty huge fan of this director and his previous effort The Fall is one of my favorite movies ever. The Cell was pretty great as well so I was very excited to see what he did with Greek mythology. From a visual and action perspective I was not at all disappointed. Singh’s sense of style and art direction is probably not for everyone as it tends to be pretty over the top particularly in the costume department but I personally love it and found the film to be a visual feast. Every shot in the movie could be hung on the wall and considered art. I cannot overstate how beautiful I think this movie is. Of course, if Singh’s particular taste in presentation doesn’t match yours then there is not much else I can say to you about it. I think there are a lot of people who will be turned off by the visual style of the film and it is not a question of being right or wrong about it but rather a question of individual taste.

Less subjective is the action which is delivered in an intense and visceral way. The violence is gruesome and gory while being pretty impressive and exciting to watch as well. There may be more slow motion for some people’s tastes and the comparisons to 300 are pretty impossible to avoid. I will say I feel that Immortals is more successful than that film and delivers much more exciting and better choreographed action with more inspired use of effects and slow motion but again if you hate that technique then you are probably going to be turned off by it here as well.

Henry Cavill is playing Superman in the upcoming Zack Snyder movie Man of Steel and since I have never seen him in anything before I was pretty skeptical of him in that role. Seeing him here all of my doubts are gone. He isn’t given much to do in terms of acting range as most of what he does is react and kill things but as far as handling the action and cutting an impressive figure as a hero he is massively successful. I am very much looking forward to seeing him in other things, particularly as Superman.

Mickey Rourke chews a lot of scenery but delivers his lines as earnestly as possible. He makes for an effective villain as far as being a huge bastard for no apparent reason goes and I can’t really fault his choices. Stephen Dorff likewise does a respectable job with some questionable dialogue and Freida Pinto is very, very hot. There isn’t really anything wrong with any of the acting here but the roles are not particularly deep. Still, the performances are convincing enough to get you to the next action scene so it works well enough.

Conclusion [8.0 out of 10]

Immortals could have been a much better film with a better script but if you are into Singh’s style there is still a lot to love about the movie. It looks fantastic and the action is very effective. I am still looking for the mythology movie that gets the story right but Immortals does a pretty good job of getting the right tone. I would have liked a deeper story but Immortals is more like going to a museum than a library anyway so I will just appreciate the beauty. Given the visual splendor, it is worth seeing in a theater on the big screen but I would go to a matinee or bargain show to make sure you get your money’s worth.