Plot: What’s it about?
There are certain themes in Hollywood that are timeless. Though the Western genre has slowed down, there’ll always be Westerns. Action/Adventure, Science-Fiction and so forth. Of course, the Vampire movies have never really gone out of style and as of late I’ve seen one too many “gladiator” movies. Yes, I know that’s historically inaccurate, but any time I hear a Greek or Roman god’s name and then see a way too buff man parading around shirtless – I’m never sure if the viewing experience is exactly up to par (for me). A couple of years back Warner came out with Clash of the Titans, a re-make of the 1981 movie of the same name. It did well enough to merit a sequel and it obviously influenced Immortals, the title in question. Naturally I think both of these films owe a bit of credit to 300, a much more interesting movie of this genre, though equally uncomfortable in the “men without shirts” department.
Immortals takes its cue from the aforementioned movies as we meet Theseus (Henry Cavill), the bastard son and a slave. When King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) decides to go on a rampage to look for the Epirus Bow, a magical weapon that can pretty much destroy anything, the town is evacuated. Unbeknownst to Hyperion, Theseus has been chosen by Zeus (Luke Evans) as a “hero” of sorts. Hyperion and his army do everything they can to search for the bow and destroy everything in their path. Their ultimate goal, other than finding the bow, is to release a group of imprisoned Titans. This will cement Hyperion’s status as the end all, be all ruler of the land. Will it work? Well let’s just say that Theseus has the gods on his side and those with gods on their side might have a few tricks up their sleeve.
My problem with Immortals wasn’t that it was a bad movie, I pretty much knew what to expect going into it. It just seemed that Theseus had more than the favor of the gods – they pretty much fought the battles for him! Every time he was in trouble they showed up and saved the day. No where’s the fun in that? I won’t give away any of the three endings, of course, but if you’re looking for a movie of this genre, there are better ways to go. Go see 300 instead. The film is a CGI homoerotic feast for the eyes that’s not really matched by the females. Yes, we have Freida Pinto and Anne Day-Jones plays Athena, but I needed a bit more than that to justify sitting through this film. Is this a “guy movie?” Yes, in every sense of the word. Is it worth watching again and again? I’ll leave that up to you.
Video: How does it look?
The visual look and feel for the film is, again, about what I expected. There’s a very polarized distortion where the skies are orange, the shadows under the eyes are always present and of course every man has perfectly even growth on his beard. Again, much like 300, there’s a lot of CGI and this 1.85:1 AVC HD transfer does look pretty darn good, just in a different way. The film was shot and made for 3D and there’s a 3D version of this movie out there, though this is the 2D version reviewed here. Fine detail is excellent, contrast is a bit hard to describe and black levels seem to be as expected. Immortals is a very unique-looking film, for sure, but with so many others with the same look and feel, this seems like more of a copy than anything truly original.
Audio: How does it sound?
One thing that I will say is that this DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack will give your speakers a true workout. Yes, the audio is a bit compressed but the LFE are seemingly always humming and I kept jerking my head around to look at the surrounds (I have no idea why I do that) and what they were spitting out. Dialogue sounds very good, rich and full and each of the main characters, save Hyperion, has this faux-British accent that sounds so cliched, I have no idea if it was planned or not. Immortals will light up the room, no doubt about it, so if it’s mindless action and a loud soundtrack you’re after then you’ve come to the right place.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The film comes with its share of extras as we start out with “It’s No Myth” as we get a brief crash course in mythology. “Caravaggio Meets Fight Club – Tarsem’s Vision” is a quartet of featurettes divided into four parts: stunts, mythology, the score and special effects. There’s an alternate opening with “Young Theseus” though it’s very rough footage, but we do see how Theseus did come to meet the King of the Gods. Two alternate endings are also included, the first is essentially an extended version of the theatrical ending. The second made no sense whatsoever and was just plain awkward. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that actors Mickey Rourke and Henry Cavill…share a moment. There are eight deleted scenes as well as a series of comics that give a bit of depth and history to this film. I found them very difficult to read, though. Lastly is the original theatrical trailer and there’s a DVD digital copy of the film as well.
