Immortals is going to see a lot of comparisons to Clash of the Titans and 300, and rightfully so. Greek warriors, beefy guys, slow-motion fights, mystical activity, pompous dialogue -- it's like a frat party punch comprised of the last ten years of period action movies.
But frat party punches still makes you tipsy.
Apple has released the official HD trailer for Tarsem Singh's (The Cell, The Fall) latest flick, which isn't a far stray from the footage released at Wondercon 2011. In the film, Henry Cavill (Zack Snyder's new Superman) plays Theseus, a stonemason whose mother was killed by the ravenous King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). Hyperion is sweeping the land in search of the Bow of Epirus, a magical weapon capable of bringing down the Gods. Theseus, royally pissed off over the death of his mommy, seeks council with Phaedra the Oracle (Frida Pinto), who informs him he's THE KEY TO EVERYTHING.
Shocker!
Immortals doesn't depart too far from the rudimentary storytelling of its predecessors, but I'll be damned if Tarsem isn't the king of stunning eye-candy. What sucks is that Snyder beat Tarsem to the punch -- the slo-mo photography and framing that could have been pulled from a Renaissance painting are the building blocks his signature style, but feel familiar in a post-300 world. We should give Tarsem the benefit of the doubt; The Fall relied heavily on visual to tell its whimsical story and an action movie nurtured with this same kind of care could be a kick-ass time at the theater.
As for the performances, they all barely register over the trailer's two minute run time. Lots of screaming, vague predictions from the stunning Frida Pinto and silly motivational speeches. Immortals isn't Shakespeare, but as long as the movie knows that, it could be a blast.
Immortals premieres on November 11, so expect another round of footage and updates at San Diego Comic-Con in July!
