Movie Review: Singh’s Latest Film ‘Immortals’ Lacks Depth of Character

by Ashley Wetzel

The film Immortals, directed by Tarsem Singh, premiered on Nov. 11. Previous films directed by Singh include The Cell and The Fall. At its base, Immortals is a loose interpretation of Greek mythology.

The plot

The film begins after the infamous War of the Titans, leaving people to grieve their losses. The antagonist of the film is the fallen King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), who is on a mission to enact revenge on the Gods after the loss of his family. King Hyperion and his army slay human settlement after settlement, leading to an interaction with a faithless peasant named Theseus.

Theseus (Henry Cavill) is the films protagonist, who is chosen by the Gods. During an attack on Theseus’s village, King Hyperion murders Theseus’s mother. Following the murder, Theseus swears to get revenge on Hyperion. The Gods enlist Theseus to fight Hyperion and prevent him from releasing the Titans.

Battle scenes fail to maintain momentum

The film itself relies heavily on highly choreographed battle sequences. The fight scenes and action packed moments in the film seem to hold the viewers attention momentarily, but can only maintain it through closely linked battle sequences. There is little depth throughout the film, with minimal focus on character depth. The characters in the film, including the main characters, are very one dimensional, having only one goal in mind. Every character seems to have simple motivations that can be summed up into a few words like, “love,” “faith” and “honor.”

Despite the lack of character depth, the actors deliver on the major performances. Mickey Rourke manages to convey the sinister and cool Hyperion with ease. Henry Cavill, on the other hand, fails to play Theseus as anything other than a compassionate killing machine. While he is successful at rallying the audience and delivering some high-impact fight scenes, his character leaves a lot to be desired from a famous name in Greek mythology. Following this film, audiences have a lot to look forward to with Cavill’s portrayal of Superman in the upcoming film, Man of Steel.

From the producers of 300, Immortals delivers on the edge-of-your-seat action, but in the end, it lacks actual character depth.