Immortals 3D Review

Rated R (Sequences of Strong Bloody Violence, and a Scene of Sexuality)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 50 Minutes

Cast:

Henry Cavill-Theseus

Mickey Rourke-King Hyperion

Freida Pinto-Phaedra

Stephen Dorff-Stavros

John Hurt-Old Man

Luke Evans-Zeus

Isabel Lucas-Athena

Kellan Lutz-Poseidon

Daniel Sharman-Ares

Steve Byers-Heracles

Romano Orzari-Icarus

Corey Sevier-Apollo

Joseph Morgan-Lysander

Anne Day-Jones-Aethra

Stephen McHattie-Cassander

Robert Maillet-The Minotaur

Directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar

Who do you think you are, Katniss Everdeen?

Can spectacular visuals make up for a mediocre story in a film? Audiences often make this excuse as a justification for writers and directors to embellish their work with eye-catching special effects in order to cover up plot deficiencies, a symptom that is especially common in summer blockbusters. Director Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s latest work, “Immortals,” bears a strong resemblance to 2006’s “300” directed by Zack Snyder, which isn’t a surprise considering that Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari served as producers for both films. While “Immortals” features gorgeous, breathtaking visuals that recall a live-action Renaissance painting and over-the-top battles that revel in copious amounts of blood, this intense focus on how the film looks has unfortunately resulted in a lifeless, threadbare script populated by characters devoid of any discernible personality. 

The Heraklion King of Crete, Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), declares war on Olympus, blaming the Gods for abandoning him in his time of need by letting his family die from a severe illness. He is searching for a mythical long-lost weapon called the Epirus Bow, which will allow him to break into Mount Tartarus to free the Titans, imprisoned by the Gods many ages ago. To locate the bow, Hyperion begins a campaign of terror, ransacking every holy shrine he can locate in search of a Virgin Oracle named Phaedra (Freida Pinto), who can foresee the future through her visions. He and his army advances toward a village located high on a cliff, the home of a young peasant named Theseus (Henry Cavill), who was conceived after his mother was raped by an unknown individual. As a result, they are shunned by everyone in the village with the exception of a wise old man (John Hurt), who has mentored Theseus all his life, turning him into an exceptionally skilled warrior. Hyperion and his soldiers arrive at the village after receiving information from a traitor within the Athenian army and despite his skill Theseus is unable to stop the Heraklion King from killing his mother before his very eyes. Before he can swear revenge, he is taken and forced to work to death on the salt mines. While there, he meets a smart-mouthed thief named Stavros (Stephen Dorff) and Phaedra, who helps them escape by causing a riot with the help of her decoys. Locating the Epirus Bow in a labyrinth-like mausoleum, Theseus and his new-found allies attempt to destroy Hyperion as the Olympian Gods, led by Zeus (Luke Evans), observe from above, debating whether they should intervene or allow humankind to fight their own battles. 

“Immortals” is loosely (and I emphasize this word) based upon the Greek myths of Theseus and the Titanomachy (War of the Titans), although no knowledge of these stories is required as screenwriters Vlas and Charley Parlapanides simply cherry-picked elements and combined them to form their own tale. The film is certainly a sight to behold as the sumptuous visuals are simply incredible, deserving of the highest praise. Every shot is perfectly framed to provide maximum details, no matter how small they may be. Director of photography Brendan Galvin has truly outdone himself. You can compare it to watching a moving Renaissance painting with its warm golden hues, with Singh slowing down the action to allow audiences to admire the fruits of his and Galvin’s labor. The action is unrelenting as dozens of men are killed with exaggerated displays of blood spraying everywhere. The final thirty or so minutes has three concurrent battles taking place but while they satisfy on a purely adrenaline level, these scenes soon grow repetitive with the overuse of slow motion. 

Not helping matters is the fact that the film is overall a hollow experience, failing to make an emotional connection and sprouting hackneyed nonsense about having faith in the Gods but unable to explain how this faith comes about or what it means to an individual. The characters lack personality and are given the simplest of motivations, the bare minimum to provide context to the carnage unfolding on-screen. The romance between Theseus and Phaedra is rushed as they seemingly fall in love within minutes of meeting each other. Finally, the Epirus Bow is made to be such a central weapon in the conflict but it’s completely forgotten in the second half of the film. This all goes back to the question of whether spectacular visuals can make up for a lacking story and while the look of a film can go a long way in enhancing the viewer experience, it’s no replacement for a good story. This is the main problem with “Immortals;” it looks beautiful but ultimately we’re just spectators, the script simply failing to engage and make us care about the characters’ struggles. As for the 3D, this is another one of those post-conversions and it’s actually not that bad, although the bar has been set rather low considering the number of lazy conversions released this year. While the image lacks depth, the film does not suffer from the brightness issue that plagues most 3D films and the action scenes fares well as Singh’s camera often pulls back to give you a full view. I wouldn’t give a full recommendation on seeing “Immortals” in 3D but if you’re forced to, at least you won’t leave the theater feeling cheated. 

Performances consist of a lot teeth gritting and shouting but if there were any doubt on Henry Cavill’s ability to portray Superman in Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel” to be released in 2013, this film should silence them. Cavill’s Theseus makes an impassioned speech right before the final battle that’s well done with echoes of Gerard Butler’s Leonidas but I would label his acting as ‘adequate’ as Singh often poses him in many scenes like an action figure. Mickey Rourke cuts an imposing figure as Hyperion, albeit his American accent can sound out of place. The rest of the cast have little to do other than look stunning in their costumes. Frieda Pinto is attractive with the camera often lingering on her but she’s conspicuously absent once the fighting begins in the last thirty minutes. As for the Olympian Gods, which includes Luke Evans as Zeus, Isabel Lucas as Athena, and Kellan Lutz as Poseidon (cue the snickers), they’re mainly there to spruce up the proceedings while skulls are being violently crushed into brain matter. 

“Immortals” was released on November 11, 2011 to largely negative reviews with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics concluded that ‘the melding of real sets, CG work, and Tarsem's signature style produces fireworks, though the same can't be said for [the film’s] slack, boring storytelling.’ It had an above average opening weekend debut with $32 million (a new best for Relativity Media), and has currently grossed $122 million worldwide against an estimated $75 million production budget so a sequel is highly possible. Since I viewed the film on a weekday, audience attendance was mediocre. “Immortals” is all visual spectacle and there’s nothing wrong with that but it deserves a better script and the lack thereof represents something of a lost opportunity for Singh as he’s obviously talented but often fails to connect on an emotional level.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5

“All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.”