The first time I saw a trailer for Immortals, it was all too easy to dismiss it as a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of 300, much like the pointless CGI remake of Clash of the Titans. It looked like Zack Snyder's motion picture graphic novel, it moved like Zack Snyder's movie, it even sounded like it. I was all set to ignore it completely.
Until, that is, I happened to notice it was directed by Tarsem Singh.
Here's a director who started out in music videos and commercials, and has found his niche in Hollywood directing trippy, arty, colourful movies with a peculiar, dreamlike quality. Immortals, meanwhile, is a big, popcorn-shifting action flick with a very limited colour palette (at least according to the trailer). How would such a director fare with such a commercial film?
Well, I can certainly say it could have done with more of his trademark colour. Much of the time, it looked as though it was there when they filmed, but subsequently became horribly desaturated in post-production. The 3D effect, as with so many other movies, is all but completely lost. There are many parallels, both visual and narrative, between Immortals and 300, and I doubt it will go down in history as one of Singh's finest movies, or among the best performances from its stars.
It's a lot better than I had expected... but neither as visually interesting as The Cell (though some of the costumes come close, and the gods' helmets are particularly wacky) nor as visceral as 300. Having seen it, though, I'm keen to track down another of the director's earlier films, The Fall, and the catch his next offering - a retelling of Snow White. Both are overflowing with his trademark colour, so they should be a real treat.
It's actually pretty amazing that Mirror, Mirror will be only Tarsem Singh's fourth time in the director's chair for a cinematic release... but it's good that he's sticking to the stranger films, which allow his particular style to shine through...
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