Les Immortels

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.

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 guess it was the year for really bad, dumb CGI video game type films. Immortals is as awful and as deep as the worst mindless video game cut sequences. Being very poorly written may have been inevitable but this films biggest crime is that nothing of note happens for the first hour. The lack of action is puzzling for a movie such as this one. The first hour is filled with CG scenery, "gods" dressed in their best homosexual fetish duds, an occasional ominous soundtrack, and a story held together by nonsense and one brief skirmish where the lead kills three men as he tries to save his mother. Until the final battle, this movie is actually boring. The final battle was cool (although disgusting) but ultimately meaningless when anyone stops and thinks about it. In 3D or regular, this is an ungodly waste of time.

This film certainly has its flaws. Weak character development is the main one, but it's not nonexistent. The film's atmosphere and graphic bloodshed/torture is disturbing and captivating, accurately portraying what most people imagine of Greeks fighting. The story is interesting, definitely not accurately following the mythology but creating an alternate universe with the same characters. The direction, acting, and effects were all well done. Everyone who was present at the midnight showing thoroughly enjoyed it. It is not a perfect film, but it is undeniably enjoyable and much better than other similarly themed movies that have been made recently.