Immortals

I find it interesting that there is now a whole sub-genre of special effects filled realistic fiction based in Ancient Greece. And because of the success of 300 and Clash of the Titans, there will likely be more of this very specific category. Immortals fits that bill as essentially a combination of those two films listed above. Henry Cavill plays Theseus, a peasant who becomes involved in a fight against a tyrant (Mickey Rourke) after his village is slaughtered. But don’t worry; the gods help him on this journey. They have a special interest since Rourke’s character plans to release the mortal enemy of the gods, the titans.

There has been much hype regarding the violence and gore in Immortals. Yeah, it’s there, but I’ve personally become desensitized to the stylized war aspects of films like this. There is a moment including a giant hammer that had the men in the theater cringing though. That is the one really awful bit of violence. This is a strong introduction for Cavill to blockbuster movies. He is, of course, the new Superman. In Immortals he finds a balance between old Greek mannerisms and a more modern approach. The script also does this throughout the entire film. We’ve learned that if you force actors to use phony accents at all times you could end up with something like Nicholas Cage in Season of the Witch.

The effects driven camera work and unconventional transitions add an interesting aspect to the film. But at times these effects outweigh the story, which can’t happen. The supporting cast is written to be a horror movie like massacre. Each big scene is complemented by a character getting killed, and it’s predictable every time. I understand it would be unrealistic if all the characters survived this huge war, but they likely wouldn’t be killed to accompany a convenient timeline. Though the awesomeness of the scenes featuring the gods makes the viewer forget the predictability. (7.7 out of 10)