Les Immortels

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.

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.

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.

When I first saw the trailer to this movie I thought it would be a lame movie that has mythological elements in it like the recent "Clash of the Titans" movie. But this movie I gotta admit is much better with the direction and the gory and bloodiness of it all. The movie is brutal like how mythological movies like this should be. The story isn't anything amazing or anything like that but the cinematography, the violence and the mythological powers that is portrayed in this movie makes it worth a watch. The parts where the gods comes down to intervene or just fight is very cool to watch and is some of the most entertaining parts of the movie. If the story was good as some of the sequences in this movie this could have easily been a must see movie of 2011. But still it's a entertaining flick that I didn't regret forking over few bucks to see in theater.

7.4/10

"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.