“Immortals” holds another title for audiences: redemption.
Over the past couple years, 3D has had plenty of flack to deal with, and mostly for good reason. It was cheesy, it looked bad or it looked out of place.
But finally, a film has come out that does 3D justice. “Immortals” is what 3D and ancient Greek period pieces are supposed to look like.
The movie follows a peasant and demi-god, Theseus (Henry Cavill, “The Tudors”), who must leave his village to escape King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke, “Iron Man 2”).
Hyperion has waged a war against humanity and the gods. He is marching throughout Greece to overturn shrines in his search for the Epirus bow, a powerful weapon of the immortals that will allow him to release the Titans from Mount Tartaros.
Theseus journeys with the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto, “Slumdog Millionaire) and a witty thief, Stavros (Stephen Dorff, “Somewhere”), to stop Hyperion from releasing the Titans.
“Immortals” does not hold back on the torture and violence that accompanied ancient Grecian warfare.
At certain points, the torture feels like it has overstepped its boundaries, but it is not without purpose. “Immortals” may feel excessively violent to some, but it creates a final struggle that is not just full of action, but also emotion.
Theseus delivers a speech to his outnumbered army reminiscent of moving pre-battle speeches such as William Wallace’s speech in “Braveheart.”
“Immortals” avoids the pitfalls of the recent ancient Greek period films such as over-stylized images and easy-to-parody lines like “This is Sparta!”
Instead of filling the film with stars, as “Troy” and “Clash of the Titans” did, “Immortals” uses a few familiar faces that are on the rise; stardom does not mask a mediocre plot. The actors and the plot are equally impressive, so neither is forced to carry the other.
“Immortals” is the 3D gold moviegoers have been searching for at the end of an allusive rainbow of cheap 3D tricks. It is made for 3D, but it is not full of pointless moments where random objects fly out at the audience’s face. Since James Cameron’s “Avatar” hit theaters, 3D has lost a lot of its luster, but “Immortals” embodies the return to the original allure.
