Immortals

This is easily the most visually striking movie I have seen since Tarsem's last movie, The Fall. Everything about the movie is stylized to almost a hyper degree and for the subject matter displayed in the movie it really compliments it. This movie almost seems like a full motion painting and a truly beautiful movie is on full display. The main actors in the movie, Henry Cavill and Mickey Rourke, bring great performances to the table. This is particularly important for Cavill because he will be playing Superman in his next role and this is his first leading role in American cinema. Altogether this movie is fantastically shot and is a beautiful movie to watch and experience.

The movie tells the story of Theseus, who is a peasant in a small village who is destined for greatness. A mad king, Hyperion, is searching for a mythical bow that will allow him to unleash the Titans. The Titans are fallen Gods that have been imprisoned by Zeus and his children. The story is pretty standard by most conventions but the execution is excellent. All of the actors do a good job and the real star is the director Tarsem and his cinematographer. Their ability to display what can only be described as a full motion painting is a truly amazing accomplishment. This is going to be a little shorter than usual because I have a giant headache currently and am rushing to post this review before I go to sleep.

The violence in this movie is also beautiful because there is a certain fluidity in the battle sequences that you really do not see in movies. The most breathtaking sequence comes near the end of the movie when the Gods led by Zeus take on the newly freed Titans. This is probably the closest thing we will ever get to a live action God of War movie. Each act of violence in the sequence is over the top in some way with gods being cut in half, slammed through walls, and decapitated. But when you are watching it, nothing seems out of place because the Gods are so powerful that you expect them to tear each other apart when they fight. Most of the sequence is in slow motion in order to extenuate the action as well as give the viewer a sense of how fast the Gods move relative to humans. This is a great scene and shows how much time and effort was put into every last detail of the movie.

Immortals is a must watch in my opinion, even if you go just to see the visuals it will be completely worth it. Cavill gives a great performance and proves that he can carry a movie on his shoulders while also be a very likable actor. Tarsem hits it out of the park again following up his two previous movies, The Fall and The Cell. With each movie you can see his progression as a director and he will one day be considered to be one of the best in the business. If you are going to the movies this weekend, take the smarter route and see this movie. Overall I would give it an 8.5/10.