This is a film I wanted to watch in the cinema in 3D, but never got the chance to. Last night we plumped for an action film over a thriller and sat down to watch Immortals.
The plot centres around Theseus who is chosen by Zeus, King of the Gods, to demonstrate Zeus’ faith in mankind and rise up to take on the evil King Hyperion who is a quest to find a mythical weapon called the Epirus Bow to destroy humanity. The film is in the spirit of other Greek myth takes such as Clash Of The Titans and Jason and the Argonauts, but is really lacking in the plot department. It all seems much too rushed and more focus on special effects, which are very nice but they forgot to write a script in the meantime.
Starring Henry Cavill (my wife’s new favourite buff actor) in the lead role of Theseus and Mickey Rourke as the bad guy Hyperion, there is nothing wrong with the cast or indeed the acting. John Hurt also appears, as do Stephen Dorff and Luke Evans. If I were compare the look of the film to anything it would be a cross between Thor and 300, but nowhere near as good as either of them.
So I suppose it was probably a good thing that I didn’t see it in the cinema, but I think the film may have been enhanced by seeing it with more effects going on around me and that might have distracted me from the lack of storyline. I did find myself providing funny comments over the film which is never a good sign really. That said, it was reasonably entertaining and you could just let it wash over you and not have to think about it much more after the credits rolled, so I give it a 5.5/10. It’s not an award winner by any stretch of the imagination, just a throw away popcorn movie. It certainly won’t live forever in my memory.
Lady Kell of Kincavel
January 22, 2012 at 16:13
Definitely not much there to hold interest while watching. Yes, we have the class act that is John Hurt to add gravitas, newly lauded Rourke to kick butt, and Cavill’s rather lovely bared chest to act as eye candy (so sue me – he’s gorgeous and I liked him from the first moment I saw him in The Tudors), all wrapped up in Greek mythology. It should have been great. It should have been better than great – it should have been freakin’ awesome, and that’s what the trailers all seemed to promise. Unfortunately, the film itself fails to live up to that promise on an epic scale. A wafer-thin plot and minimal writing cannot be overcome even by the greatest acting and superb action sequences.
I’ll be very generous and give it 5/10, but only because Henry Cavill’s chest is particularly ogle-worthy.