R, 1 hr. 50 min. Directed by:
Tarsem Singh. Release Date: November 11, 2011.
Forty-five more days left in this journey of mine. In the wake of relatively recent re-employment, it's been rough, and those of you who have been repeat visitors have probably noticed that my posting times are a bit... random.
Forty-five more days left in this journey of mine. In the wake of relatively recent re-employment, it's been rough, and those of you who have been repeat visitors have probably noticed that my posting times are a bit... random.
I walked in to this movie knowing two things: the first is that Immortals had a serious case of living up to do, in this case to it's big brother, 300. The second was that this movie had to live down the travesty that was the 2010 Clash of the Titans debacle. Immortals has some significantly similar vibes to both of those films, but about halfway through, you realize that Singh isn't trying to recreate (or improve) upon anything that's come before. He's doing something entirely different and even unique in my experience. The real issue is that I'm not entirely sure he succeeded.
The martial prowess and fighting choreography echo 300 many ways, but Immortals was, to my un-contact lensed eyes, far more visually impressive (and don't get me wrong, I thought 300 had amazing visual effects). It lacked something else I was missing: a single likable character. Theseus, the hero of legend, and main character, is stiff and unyielding throughout the film. I get the whys of his behavior, but he was well, kind of a jerk, even when it was well deserved, and that makes for fail storytelling. There also was a whole lot less violence than I was expecting, and even the violence we witness felt... gentrified somehow, all cleaned up for the camera. Immortals lacked a savagery I expected (and wanted) to see.
And, it had some commonalities with Clash of the Titans that extended past the Greek myth base. A relatively unlikable lead character (not to be confused with the actor who plays the character), at least in the 2010 version. An epic story that is rich in that strange tragedy that seems so common in classic works. A bunch of people running around half-naked. Immortals, also like Clash of the Titans, has absolutely no reason to be playing in 3D except to bilk people out of an extra $3-$5. In the two hours, exactly three things popped off the screen: Henry Cavill's nipples, Freida Pinto's rear, and an imploding Titan in the final moments of the film. So not worth the extra cash.
Additionally, I thought this was slow and filled with things that didn't make sense. Why is there a sea filled with oil? It would still be more than a thousand years before the Exxon Valdez could run aground. Why not use a real weapon from Greek mythology (or at least, I've never heard of the Episus bow, and I've read more than a few of these stories in my time)? Why is Athena the only goddess shown in the film? Why have Kellan Lutz involved in this for any reason? The mind boggling list just goes on and on.
Now, I did think the fighting choreography was BEAUTIFUL, as was the scenery and the filming of the movie. It's rare that I don't notice cigarette burns in the wake of Fight Club, but I didn't notice any here. I loved the buildings and the artwork that's all over the place. I even thought the story was okay, if I didn't think too hard about the details. I sort of liked Mickey Rourke, and I liked looking at Freida Pinto.
My last question is this: where else have I seen that metal bull before? Was it 300?
