After the success of
300, it was only a matter of time before we got
to see another similar visual film set in antiquity. This time around Indian director Tarsem Singh
(The Cell, and The Fall) was
chosen to bring this ancient tale to the 3D theatres, a nod to this director’s visual and artistic flair.
There is no doubt that Immortals is much
more artistic and appealing than 300but
certainly not as exciting or engaging as the vicious battle between the Spartans and the
Persians.
The story is the typical Greek adventure. It revolves around a peasant named Theseus
(Henry Cavill) chosen by the Gods to stand up against the evil King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). The young
oracle (Freida Pinto) works with Theseus to keep the King from putting his hands on the Epirus Bow, an
instrument capable of unleashing the Titans. And as students of Greek mythology will know, the Titans were a
race of deities that could challenge the gods of antiquity.
In the acting department, Henry Cavill (The Count of
Monte Cristo, and Stardust) as Theseus was good enough to get the job
done, Luke Evans (The Three
Musketeers) as Zeus and Stephen Dorff
(Blade, and
Public
Enemies) as Stavros both gave average performances, Freida
Pinto (Slumdog
Millionaire) as the oracle is good looking but she was not
very fluid in her acting. More to the point, her performance was boring not only because of her limited
acting skills but also because of the weak screenplay and the fact that the oracle character itself required
more depth. As expected the best performance came from Mickey Rourke (Sin
City, and 9 1/2
Weeks) as evil King
Hyperion, a strong performance which was menacing, interesting, and convincing all the same
time.
Singh’s storytelling and character development abilities are not on par with his strong
visual capabilities. As in his previous film, The
Fall, Singh is not able to maintain excitement
throughout the film. The middle part of his movies lag due to his lack of storytelling and his inability to
develop characters. However, Singh’s visual style is very distinctive and memorable which guarantees enough
“wow” moments throughout this violent spectacle.
In every way, Immortals is certainly better than the recent
disastrous flop Clash of the
Titans and visually, it is even more interesting to look
at than 300, but it is
not as thrilling as expected. The last 20 minutes deliver the goods with style. At the same time, the movie
switches to an ancient Greek Braveheart,
which was actually funny and
unexpected.
Immortals lacks strong characters at its core, the
acting is average at best (with the exception of Rourke’s performance), the story is not very engaging, and
the thrills kick in late. However, if you are planning to see a visual epic adventure with decent 3D effects
and action scenes, then you will certainly be prepared to overlook all of the film’s
shortcomings.
Rating: 6.5
Opening Week Numbers
Photo Courtesy: Universal
Pictures
