Fantasy and mythology have always made for good big-screen drama, and 2011 has been quite a year for such adventures. From Thor to Conan the Barbarian, chiseled warriors doing battle against insurmountable odds have fared incredibly well at the box office. I’m not sure if there is any numerological significance to its release date of 11/11/11, but Immortals is the latest such film to battle its way into theaters.
In much the same way 300 gave the Battle of Thermopylae some stylistic jolts, Immortals (touted as being “from the producers of 300“) retells the story of Theseus and the Minotaur with elaborate costumes, grandiose settings and battles filled with mind-boggling effects. Known for his visual flair and over-the-top aesthetics, director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) has plenty to work with here as Greek gods, oracles and armies of masked warriors dominate every scene.
Mickey Rourke as the ruthless King Hyperion. Photo by Jan Thijs
As the ruthless King Hyperion (The Wrestler‘s Mickey Rourke) systematically conquers village after village (torturing and murdering innocent people along the way), he progressively builds a larger and larger army to help him on his quest to rule the world. Channeling the tough repugnance he’s portrayed in such movies as Sin City, Iron Man 2 and The Expendables, Rourke’s portrayal of Hyperion makes it impossible to do anything but despise him. And when he personally murders your helpless mother right in front of you (as he does to Theseus, unknowingly incurring the wrath of one of mankind’s greatest warriors and the gods that support his cause), he eventually determines his own fate, despite the destruction he leaves in his wake.
Theseus (The Tudors‘ Henry Cavill), a rebellious peasant who has no faith in the gods, reluctantly becomes humanity’s last hope, with the help of the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire and Rise of the Planet of the Apes), the thief Stavros (Stephen Dorff) and, eventually, the gods themselves. In pure Greek irony, the death of Theseus’ mother inadvertently leads him to the very thing he will need if he is to prevent Hyperion from achieving his goal of obtaining the Epirus Bow and releasing his fellow Titans from captivity.
Stavros (Stephen Dorff), Theseus (Henry Cavill), Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and Nycomedes (Greg Bryk) in "Immortals." Photo by Jan Thijs
From the oracles’ visions of the future to epic battles between vast armies, Singh’s unique cinematography makes Immortals feel as imaginative as the Homeric tales from which these characters have been derived. Singh’s visual spectacle seems to assume that the audience will either be familiar enough with these Greek myths to already know the relationships that exist between some of the characters, or that viewers will be distracted enough by the skull-bursting battles and other excrutiating scenes to not care about what’s going on. So whether you see it as fantasy escapism or recognize Singh’s literal and aesthetic influences, Immortals is a grandiose Greek drama filled with the tragedy and triumph that should be expected.
Immortals. Directed by Tarsem Singh. Starring Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff and Freida Pinto. Rated R. www.immortalsmovie.com.
Review by Jonathan Williams