Immortals

Immortals seems to be a movie that kind of came out of no where. I had only seen a few previews for it a few months ago, and before I knew it, it had released in theaters, and to great success. Made from the producers of the instant-classic, 300, Im sure everyone had high expectations for this movie, especially since it features a similar art style. 

Right off the bat, I was interested in this movie not for it's 300 connection, but for the fact that it has to do with Greek and Roman history, which is fascinating. Games like God of War 1-3, and movies like 300 and Gladiator are examples of how engrossing this genre can be if it is done right. Notice how I said "done right". For me, specifically in this genre that requires an epic, yet simple story, an R-rating (they were bloody times, dont censor it), and a fantastic soundtrack (Gladiator has one of my favorite soundtracks, created mostly by Hanz Zimmer). From the previews, this film looked as if it could live up to all of those criteria, especially once it finally received an R-rating which seemed to take forever for this movie. 

Overall though, I feel as if Immortals, while very entertaining, is still slightly disappointing. Having seen the movie, I feel like all of the pieces were there to make another classic, but they didnt come together as perfect as they did in 300. But that isnt to say that Immortals is a bad movie just because it doesnt live up to its predecessor.

"I'm not flexing as hard as I can...I swear!" *Craps Pants* "Ugh, not again"

To start, the acting was really well done which surprised me because in the trailers it looked pretty bad. Granted, not much acting is needed in these types of movies in the first place, but I was proud of Henry Cavill. He plays the peasant-who-can-fight-really-well, Theseus, and proves that he can lead a movie. Which is a good thing since he has been cast as the new Superman in the soon-to-be-released reboot. He defnitely has some big shoes to fill there. All of the additional cast does well here, including Frieda Pinto who plays an oracle. I loved her in Slumdog Millionaire and its good to see her on screen again doing a film different from what she was so praised for. Not to mention she is easy on the eyes to say the least. 

Im surprised he is not eating in this picture. He must have just swallowed.

The only person who I did not like in this film was Mickey Rourke. Not because he does a bad job, he actually does really well, but because I just feel like he doesnt fit. I dont know how to explain it, but truthfully, his villain didnt seem very memorable. Brutal? Absolutely. But as potent as Xerxes in 300? Not even close. Not to mention, for some reason his character is ALWAYS eating. I dont know why exactly, but its distracting and disgusting. Here we have an actor trying to deliver lines and he has to do so slowly to have time to chew, with bits of the food in his beard. After this happened about three times, it got really old. 

My other complaints about the movie lie in the script and the soundtrack. The script is, to describe it perfectly, very boring. I thought that maybe I was just tired, but really its just the fact that the script overstays its welcome. There was far too much talking in this movie, and even worse, the talking often felt as if it was filler; not furthering the story in any particular way. Lines were believable, there were just too many of them. And once again comparing to 300, there were hardly any memorable lines. Theseus speech to the soldiers before the final battle is so generic that I was surprised that this came from the same people who made the phrases "THIS IS SPARTA!" and "TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL" so freaking cool. Additionally, the soundtrack was tragically generic. It is my firm belief that a soundtrack can help to make a movie go from great to epic (i.e. Drive and Inception) but this film just had a copy-and-paste soundtrack. Especially with these Greek and Roman movies, it's so easy to create a memorable tune that stirs emotions, and had Immortals had one of these, it would have benefited greatly.

"Say hello to my little...leg!" 

So by now you may be asking yourself if there was anything that I liked about the movie. And truthfully, yes I really enjoyed the movie other than those complaints. The film moves like one giant piece of artwork with an insane amount of detail being laid into costumes, sets, and choreography. It is truly beautiful to watch and even more incredible in 3-D, which is the format I saw it in. I love the coloring of the film as well. It's not afraid to use violent gold armor for the gods and make the Titans an eerie shade of gray; not to mention all of the color in the remaining casts costumes. 

I have also heard a lot of critics complain about the story being hopelessly complicated and blah, blah, blah. It was a simple plot, I dont know what they are talking about. Basically Mickey Rourke is the bad guy and wants to release the titans to take over Greece. Trying to stop him are Henry Cavill and the military he joins, not to mention he has the gods on his side as well as the help of an oracle. Sound complicated? Because that is basically the jist of it. I dont know how some of these critics got through Inception...

But easily the best part of the film is the fighting. And I should probably clarify that. Other than an early fight scene where Theseus tries to save his mother, the fighting was very underwhelming in this movie. It was, once again, generic, and I became bored with it. But then the Titans vs. Gods scene happened and that single scene basically saved the movie in my eyes. We all remember that side-scrolling shot of King Leonidas in 300 where he is in rage-mode just DESTROYING the enemy with a mix of camera zooms, slow-mo, fast-forwarding, and gore. It easily makes the top 5 for coolest-movie-moments for me. And after Immortals, I would like to induct the Gods vs. Titans fight into that list. It is visually arresting, with the gold-plated gods slaughtering countless gray-skinned titans. And by slaughter I mean viscerally ripping apart. The movie probably received 90% of its R-rating in this fight alone. Titans are split in half every which way, heads are destroyed, limbs removed, just crazy carnage. But that isn't what makes it so cool. What makes it cool is the genius idea that the gods seem to move in warp speed and the titans become "frozen" when they are struck by a weapon of the gods. It results in some mind-bending action with bodies floating in air and being pummeled every which way. I could have watched this scene for a good 30 minutes. 

Like watching art

I have to apologize for comparing this movie to 300 so much, I typically like to give each movie a chance, free of its competition. But in this case, when the material is so similar, it's hard not to. 

Immortals is a great movie, but I fear that a year from now, it wont really be remembered. Meanwhile, 300 has been out since 2006 and is still beloved. In fact, they have determined that there is such a market there still that they are currently planning a 300 prequel. I recommend Immortals if you enjoyed 300. It does some things better (the artwork), but at the same time, 300 is far more timeless. That's somewhat ironic for a film whose title suggests that it cannot die. 

Pros:

• The artwork is incredible. At times it feels like you are watching a moving painting
• The cinematography and costume design is really well done. I predict an Oscar nomination for the latter
• Solid acting all around...Frieda Pinto is as gorgeous as ever
• That Gods vs. Titans scene is truly a joy to watch. I felt like a giddy school girl, thats how amazed I was
• The R rating. Truthfully this movie would have been terrible with a PG-13 rating

Cons:

• The script overstays its welcome, aka: they talk too much
• Soundtrack is sadly generic
• Mickey Rourke always eating is just plain weird
• Some fight scenes are poor and not exciting at all
• No memorable lines, villain, or hero for that matter

Rath's Review Score: 7.5/10