rating: ★★1/2

Theseus (Henry Cavill) wields his sword like a Greek!

I shall start by addressing the most important question about Immortals. Yes, it is better than Clash of the Titans. However, not by a lot.

Tarsem Singh’s sword-and-sandals epic plays fast and loose with traditional mythology, but exhibits an astounding artistic style. The story centres around King Hyperion (who is not actually a mythical figure), embarking on a conquest of all of Greece. He plans to do this by obtaining the most powerful weapon known to humanity, the mystical Epirus Bow, which can then be used to free the Titans from the depths of Tartarus.

Titans are stripped of their individual characters in this incarnation and are portrayed as mud-caked zombie creatures chilling in a cage. The gods on Olympus are a rag-tag bunch, the handful of survivors of the eons-past war with the Titans. Zeus is adamant that the gods not interfere with the war on Earth, and puts his faith in Theseus, the standard reluctant hero who takes up arms against Hyperion after his mother is murdered. He is also the only one who can uncover the Epirus Bow. Naturally.

The plot gets away from itself frequently, and things happen seemingly for no reason. We do not know why Zeus is so strict about non-interference when it seems that it is okay for him to interfere, as long as he does it disguised as John Hurt. Even though possession of the Epirus Bow is demonstrably enough to win Hyperion the war, he still insists on freeing the Titans, who give him absolutely no reason to believe that they won’t totally kill him the second they are free. The virgin oracle whom Theseus frees from captivity surrenders herself to him for no other reason than that he is the main character. And the whole movie concludes with an ending that can only be described as puzzling.

Henry Cavill is not quite at the top of his game as Theseus. His traditional light-hearted charisma and subtle intensity do not serve him well in this script, but he pulls off the character and proves to be a capable action hero (which will serve him well as Superman in Man of Steel). A lot of the film’s strength comes from Mickey Rourke as Hyperion. He is physically intimidating and emotionally intense. His performance is very low-key, never stepping into “raving bad guy” territory, yet he has an incredibly menacing presence.

Immortals is an action movie and that is clearly where most of the focus lay. It follows 300 in its hyper-stylised, dream-like quality. Everything is awash with gold and draped in shadow, lending it a mythical feel. Hyperion’s palace is dark and nightmarish, filled with unsettling sounds and deformed, sub-human figures. Fight scenes utilize a combination of fast-motion and slow-motion, sometimes simultaneously, and exaggerated blood effects to create a comic book feel. Action scenes are exhilarating and quick-paced, but never cross the line into disorienting. The sweeping action and the set designs all combine to make the atmosphere very epic.

The Olympus scenes are some of the most interesting. Olympus is portrayed as a remote and desolate place — very white and misty. The gods wear elaborate golden costumes that do not suit any historical period and they sport hats that I cannot adequately describe in my allotted word count. There is a sombre mystique to the god scenes that make me wish more of the movie were about them.

Immortals satisfies as a visually creative action epic, but its impact ultimately suffers from abounding inconsistencies in plot.

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Photo: Supplied