Les Immortels

Honestly...I don't review many movies unless I truly see it necessary. I saw Immortals this afternoon in a matinée and thought that it was an all around great movie. I am getting really sick and tired of hearing all this negative criticism about movies that lack CGI or have an overabundance of CGI. Seriously? Is it always something that isn't good enough? People, we live in the 21st century. What do you expect movie producers and designers to do with the ongoing technological developments? The cinematic experience of today is a culmination of savory snacks and drinks with an absolutely jaw dropping, eye opening motion picture that displays technology's latest and greatest effects to the ever expectant viewers. 75 % of people who attend a movie WANT to go and see what vast improvements that technology has brought to the theater on that occasion. It's a thrill to experience unimaginable landscapes, vivid colors, epic battle sequences, and all things as such...and we are provided these things BY means of technology aka CGI. So, what I am saying, is that if you really want a film without all the technological aspects, then go to a drive-in or sit at home and pop The Goonies into your dust ridden VCR. You know that movies like Immortals are going to be filled with computer generated scenes. If you are going to argue about it in the end every time, then just stay at home and save yourself and the rest of the viewing community a lot of unwanted negativity. By the way, Immortals is so worth seeing. Thanks.

"The gods may be on your side, but tomorrow, I unleash the Titans."

With eternally-youthful, barely dressed gods thundering down from the heavens like golden super heroes, and really no connection to the myth of Theseus other than names and a vaguely minotaur-like enemy, Immortals plays fast and loose with Greek mythology. But in some ways, it works. 

The battle scenes are bloody and well-staged (and obviously influenced by 300), but the movie would have been improved by making them more frequent. This is a dark, violent flick and it's easily at its best when carnage covers the screen. 

The story serves, but it's pretty forgettable. Theseus, a peasant unknowingly trained in battle by Zeus himself, must stand against a vicious king who the gods are unable to touch and keep him from releasing the dreaded Titans. I don't predict many awards for best screenplay in Immortals' future, but there's enough story to keep the characters moving and motivated, as long as you don't think about it too hard.  

Despite the influence of 300 in the heavy use of slow-motion in the action scenes, Immortals has its own look and tone that helps it stand apart. Both the sets and the characters are visually memorable, and the movie never sinks to the generically dull depths of the recent Clash of the Titans remake, even during its slower moments.

Immortals never really rises above "decent", and won't topple 300 as the recent king of the genre, but it does manage to have an exciting, epic feel to it and it's entertaining enough to be worth a watch for fans of blood-soaked sword and sandals flicks. In the end it boils down to a bombastic orgy of killing with little substance behind it, but hey, that's actually kind of alright with me. 

Oh, and if you're somehow unfamiliar with how exquisitely gorgeous Freida Pinto is, prepare to have your eyes opened. In a movie full of beautiful people, she still stands out.

I went to see this movie with the pretense of "It's going to be a combination of Troy, 300, and Clash of the Titans"... in my own mind, Troy was a 7*, 300 a 10* and Clash of the Titans a 3* movie... That averages out to a 6.67* movie. So that's what I went in expecting.

This movie had a bit more story time than I anticipated, a lot of time was spent away from epic battles but there was plenty of fighting to keep me happy. Special effects were great, stylized blood was plenty but not too much, Frieda Pinto is gorgeous, and Henry Cavill is jacked. The acting was pretty good; to be fair, not very much was necessary from anyone besides Henry Cavill, but none of the actors underperformed.

The quality of the fight scenes was great. Not a single fight scene went by where I was like "ok, I waited 5 minutes for that!?." The fight with the Greek Gods was very well done, although many people may disagree (more on that in the next paragraph). Most of the fights are just "look at Thesius... oh how he knows how to fight." But I personally couldn't care less how many people are fighting as long as the fights are well done.

The fight pertaining to the Gods is seen partly in the trailers when you see people floating in mid air as they and their friends get punished continuously. It's very Matrix/Kung Fu style, and some people didn't like that. But the way I see it, these are Gods fighting, not humans and legends. The fight has to have a different substance than just simple blood and guts.

What really irked me were the inconsistencies with Greek Mythology and the lack luster "epicness" of the Eperius bow. For one, the number of Gods present in this movie is 5. Zeuss, Poseidon, Apollo, Athena and one more... as far as the movie goes, they could of at least shown all of the Olympians. Also, the Titans are shown as rabid monkeys against the Gods. As far as I remember, they were equal to the Gods in strength and intellect. Lastly, the Eperius Bow was not as epic as they had built it up to be; especially the first time it's shot, it sort of just happens.

All in all, the movie was what most people should expect from it. Well done fight scenes, stylized blood, gorgeous Frieda Pinto and Gods.

If you go to this looking for an accurate representation of Greek mythology, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you go to this looking for a decent, nice looking, 300-type action film you'll enjoy it. As someone who knows a bit about classical mythology I can choose to be unbelievably annoyed by them using it as a reference for this film, as it's ridiculously inaccurate, but I'm not.

Leave your smarts/knowledge at the door, enjoy the pretty action and people, the brutal violence and Freida Pinto in the buff, and you'll hopefully feel that you got your money's worth.

That's about it.

I went into this movie expecting it to resemble another 300, or another Clash of the Titans, and while it was a mix of the two, Immortals far exceeded my expectations. Mickey Rourke was, as usual, an amazing villain, playing the role so well that I never thought back to different roles he's played in the past to compare them, because there is no comparison. Henry Cavill played Theseus like a boss, and was the perfect actor for this movie. Don't make the mistake of comparing this movie to other Greek Mythology flicks, because Immortals is in a category of its own. Go check it out when it debuts nationally, you will not be disappointed!