Immortals (2011) by Damen Perry

When I first heard that “Immortals” was coming out from the folks who brought you "300" I was on board but this movie is not whatever you think it might be. This movie is not about the immortals that are mentioned in "300" if that is what you might be thinking. This movie has the look of "300" and is visually stunning but at the end of this movie, you may have a hard time understanding exactly what you just saw. This movie will turn the average movie viewer into an instant "director" with a bunch of notes on things that “should have been and/or could have been done differently” and that is the downfall of "Immortals," which has all the ingredients to be a great flick. “Immortals” looks great, sounds good, has the right characters, right costumes and great special FX but simply does not have the STORY to make it worthwhile. All films have to have a great story. I love epic type movies like this - don't get me wrong and I understand what this movie is about but it goes down a boring road to get there and that is what is annoying about it and at the end, the film falls very short of epic and is easily forgettable. You will want to cheer but won't have too much to cheer about. The script was not what it could have been…plain and simple and perhaps only a child or someone who watched the movie after a few good drinks would disagree. I don’t summarize movies in my reviews but I will note a few things. The character of King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) was a fun character to watch. Visually and vocally Mickey Rourke made this character feel evil and a worthy antagonist. King Hyperion is in search of a special weapon called the Epirus Bow and is willing to tear everything and everyone up to get it. The protagonist in this movie is Theseus (Henry Cavill) who looked the part and played the part but had the typical “hero’s journey” in this movie and it was pretty easy to predict what was going to happen in regards to his character. This movie is easily predictable in some areas but there are too many unnecessary scenes that make no sense at all mainly in regards to the gods’ role in the film. Indeed it is the gods that in many ways throw this movie off course and leave the viewer not so much saying “what happened” but “why did that happen?” My first thought was that the gods maybe should have been referenced to and not seen because bringing them down from the heavens in a few scenes seems to create a movie inside a movie which adds to the "WTF-ness?" of the film. There is a good guy vs a bad guy vs the gods vs the titans and the Epirus Bow which plays a huge role in all of this mess just happens to fall into the right hands then the wrong hands so easily....REALLY?

See This Movie IF...

See this movie IF your common sense and logic can be placed on hold for a few hours. If you chose to see "Immortals" then do so with caution. If you are looking for a good ol’ time at the movies and want to see some action with the fellas and some decent fight scenes this may do the trick. The beautiful Freida Pinto who plays the role of Phaedra will leave the average red blooded male in awe throughout the whole movie and is almost distracting and worth the price of admission alone. If you can keep it simple and not think about it too much you can enjoy this film, not as much as you will want to but enough. Cool fight scenes, great visuals...hey it's just a movie right?  “Immortals” may be a good choice if you are “just looking for something to do” and your choices are limited. If the movie you really want to see is too full or isn’t playing when you want it to, then this is a decent substitution. To not be disappointed simply leave your brain at the box office. “Immortals” may make more sense if you have had a couple drinks in my opinion or aren’t really trying to get deep. So get your happy hour on before seeing this! You will thank me later.

Skip This Movie IF...

Skip this movie IF you are expecting "300" or "Gladiator" or anything like that. "Immortals" looks great, don’t get me wrong but this isn’t a movie that is going to leave you cheering at the end. You want this movie to better than it really is and that is what is disappointing. The target audience will show up to see "Immortals" but will leave feeling that they have seen this “type” of movie done better a few times already. If you are curious about "Immortals" but feel skeptical then just rent it or borrow it when it comes out. The film looks great in a theatre but that is about it if you are the analytical type. A different script and perhaps a different director could have turned this film into a classic but it is far from that. It does not fail due to not having a high enough budget or the wrong actors because everything is right except the story and all that was missing is someone looking at the script and saying "WTF" is this about? Couple rewrites here and there and it could have been a better movie and would have made more money plain and simple. I can not honestly recommend someone to pay to see this film in a theatre and the box office totals agree with me on this. This film could easily have grossed over a $100 million in the USA in a short amount of time if people could honestly recommend it but it is hard to recommend this film. Either you saw it and were cool with it or you weren't, but you weren't talking about it...blogging about it, telling your friends, etc. You probably won't see it twice and I would bet most people who saw it in the theatre won't buy it when it comes out. It's just what it is...in one word "Immortals" is ALMOST. Almost a great film, almost something worth talking about, almost the action film of the year, almost a blockbuster...almost...and unfortunately we all know that almost simply isn't good enough.