How Like A God (Immortals Review)

Hey kids! I went to see Immortals last night...and freely admit that my primary reason for seeing the film was initially to judge it's rising star in a lead role...Since he soon will take flight as Superman in Zack Snyder's big budget reboot Superman: Man of Steel--I wanted to get a preview of sorts since we have to wait until 2013 to see him as Supes...

The comparisons to Snyder's 300 are hard to aviod--a charismatic (and buffed up) hero who faces incredile odds, highly stylized acton and voilence, and some scenery chewing, to name a few. That said though it works as an entertainig adventure tale.

The film is loosely based on the Greek myths of Theseus the Minotaur and the Titanomachy...Years after the Titanomachy, the brutal King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) declares war on humanity. He searches for the Epirus Bow, a legendary weapon created by the war god Ares (Daniel Sharman), which will allow him to free the rest of the Titans from Tartarus and take revenge on the Olympians who brought about their downfall.

In keeping with ancient laws, the gods are unable to take a side in the war between Hyperion and humanity. It is left to Theseus (Henry Cavill), who is chosen by Zeus (Luke Evans) and accompanied by the oracle priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and a thief named Stavros (Stephen Dorff), to protect his homeland and save the gods.

Cavill is strong as Theseus--giving him equal parts of eanest cinviction as he fights for his people and daring do when needed--Supes seems to be in good hands (Fingers Crossed) Roarke's Hyperion is particularly brutal--I have seen a lot of seemingly hard to watch  things in movies over the years and it usually doesn't phase me at all--but what he does he does to the traitorous Lysander (Joseph Morgan) actually made me wince. Kinda like the way Kathy Bates tortures James Caan in Misery at one point. Yikes! The supporting players like the great John Hurt as the Old Man Isabel Lucas Kellan Lutz Steve Byers as the other Gods are there given brief moments on screen but that's about it. That is unfortunate.

Writers Charley Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides offer up some of the most groan inducing dialog in a movie so far this year-trying hard to match 300's style but faling flat as written though often saved by the actors and director Tarsem Singh.

Singhs's knack for stunning visuals is on display here especially the scenes among the Heavens and the final confrotation.

My dislike for 3-D remains intact....With only the film's final moments really wowing me as far as the format goes.

Not a perfect film but thanks to up and coming leading man some cool actiom sequences and a skilled director in charge Immortals is a worthy trip to the cineplex. It's up to you as far as the 3-D goes but trust me save your money...