Immortals Review

Brace thy britches and oil thy broadsword, for verily the time for a big budget slice of epic fantasy is nigh. Forsooth! After Ironclad, Your Highness and Conan the Barbarian, 2011 hasn’t been shy of legendary tales of heroism and the relatively recent sieges of the multiplexes that were Clash of the Titans and 300 linger in the mind too in anticipation of the release ofImmortals. Has this film what it takes to stand head and shoulders above the crowd, or will we just be bored and sandals?

The thing about mythology is that any version of the story is basically a loose retelling of it anyway. Whilst students of the Greek classics may get their togas in a twist, the majority will likely have few bones with Tarsem Singh’s sketchy account of the Theseus legend (with several other bits of Greek mythology thrown in for good measure). New Superman Henry Cavill stars as the demigod done good, Freida Pinto as the oracle Phaedra and Mickey Rourke is baddy Hyperion. John Hurt, Luke Evans and Stephen Dorff also star.

Theseus and his friends must stop Hyperion, who is seeking the Maguffin Bow, a powerful weapon that he can use to unleash the imprisoned Titans, who will then destroy humanity… Wait that can’t be right, why would Hyperion want humanity destroyed? He’s human too isn’t he? Is he? Despite having a story that’s been retold for literally thousands of years, Immortals is a little thin on plot, and aspects such as motivation and characterisation fall somewhat by the wayside. What we are here for is spectacle.

And oh my, do we have spectacle.

Singh’s previous film was 2006 art-epic The Fall, a film whose visual splendour outweighed any other aspect of it whatsoever, a trait the Indian director continues in Immortals. What it lacks in depth, it sure as hades makes up for in looks. The film is visually sumptuous and a triumph of production design. The photography is fantastic, the costumes are frequently amazing and the sets are often remarkable. Even the violence (of which there is a fair amount) has a curious beauty. It may be a slightly trite platitude, but you could pick any frame from Immortals at random, blow it up and put it in an art gallery. It really is striking.

Now whether the fact that film’s a bit of a looker is enough to make you want to see it is a question of personal taste. And rest assured, it’s not that the other aspects of the film are particularly bad, just rather average. Simply put, Immortals isn’t the full package: it’s got beauty, sure, but where are the brains? Whether that’s enough to form a lasting relationship with it is open to debate. It’s rare that I would truly recommend viewing any film that isn’t at least somewhat well-rounded, but in this case I’d make an exception. It may not have much else going for it, but Immortals is a spectacle to die for.