Reviews

I'll skip the details about the plot because you'll find it elsewhere and go straight to the weaknesses.

There is no doubt that the Mission Impossible series has always been an out and out action series and you never could expect anything more than that. However even going in with the same expectations I must say I came out disappointed. A lot of people will tell you that the action scenes were amazing and indeed they were. I can imagine how much hard work went into making those shots possible like the one on the outside of the Burj Khalifa and the one in the parking lot in Mumbai. But there is a fine line between making amazing stunts and making improbable stunts and MI4 erred on the wrong side more often than not.

I can start by pointing out things that Tom Cruise did that would even make Batman proud, for example falling from a good 10 feet and hitting your face onto a steel bar and coming out unscathed. there are many more but I don't want to point them all out and look like Im nitpicking.

Coming to the story line I must say I actually groaned when I figured out this would be yet another "Russia attacks US with nuclear missiles because of some misconception" kind of a story. Also there wasn't enough detailing given which left holes the size of craters in the plot.

On the plus side however is the cinematography which is spectacular. From Kremlin to Dubai to Mumbai, the cities have been captured beautifully which made it feel more like a Travel show. the acting is decent too.

However I must say I did not watch it on an IMax screen and I guess that did take away some charm.

So finally I'd say you can watch it if you're easily amazed. But honestly I'd watch the Bourne series again instead of MI.

Movies based on Greek mythology have always been a staple source of entertainment since they involve Gods, heroes, armies and a lot of action. Therefore a crisp plot and some good cinematography aided with decent acting is all thats needed to make a successful Greek myth movie. And Immortals probably only manages to get the cinematography part right.

The plot is fairly simple where the bad king Hyperion plans to wipe out the entire humanity by unleashing his army that in sheer numbers will remind you of Sauron's army from Lort of The Rings (though not that vivid). Theseus a peasant is the chosen one by Zeus who will have to lead the fight against Hyperion who is looking for the Epirus Bow with which he can unleash the Titans. What follows next is a predictable story with quite a few unnecessary scenes and gaping holes.

Henry Cavill as Theseus does a mediocre job. He looks nowhere close to being as commanding as Gerard Butler in 300 and the difference is very obvious. Mickey Rourke probably did justice to his role and managed to pull off the gruesome killings with ease. Frieda Pinto as the virgin oracle does well too but her character wasn't really required since her only 2 meaningful actions in the movie were to make a prophecy and then have sex with the hero.

The movie also could have portrayed the final war with a little more detail. The fight inside the tunnel (which by the way looked like modern architecture) was clumsy and the end of the war which was brought upon by the mountain collapsing thanks to Zeus was a sort of an anti climax.

What however saves the movie is the stunning camera-work. Also the fight sequence between the Gods and the surprisingly minute Titans is a spectacle to watch.

The biggest downfall of the movie however was that it was repetitively compared to 300 pre-production. In no category does Immortals match 300 and it is a far cry from it. Go watch this movie with no expectations and you might be able to enjoy it.

OK there aren't any real spoilers in my review but just to be on the safer side.

Before I start off with the review let me make no mistake by saying that the hype generated for this movie by SRK bordered the threshold of bearing. So naturally one would keep his expectations quite high while watching the movie. Also since the trailers were made to show-off a first of its kind look to a Bollywood movie you would be expecting a lot on that front too.

So did it live up to the expectations? Well on the CGI front I must say 99 out of 100 people will find it stunning! If I was to compare it to a Hollywood movie I'd say its something between Transformers and Beowulf. There is no doubt that this movie has now set a benchmark and has revolutionized the way Bollywood movies will be made in the future.

But now coming to the plot, I must agree with most critics and say that it is very weak. Every super hero movie requires an introduction, Spiderman got his powers from a spider bite, X-Men got theirs from mutated genes, Batman got his by rigorous training, but Ra-One and G-One get theirs from a very bizarre method and that is the first downfall in the plot. The plot is kind of opposite to the Hollywood movie Gamer where you get inside a game and play while here the game characters come out into the real world. Also the entire story hasn't been thought off well and you can very easily point out a few goof ups along the movie.

Now coming to the acting. Im not a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan and looking at this movie from a neutral perspective I must say SRK looked out of his comfort zone playing a super hero. On the other hand Arjun Rampal absolutely excels as the baddie. He easily outshines SRK without even breaking a sweat but his scope was limited and I wished he'd been given a bigger role. The music is pretty good and that includes the background scores. Dialogues were a little cheesy but I guess that is what you expect from an SRK movie. So hence my 6/10 because ultimately the CGI doesn't count for much when you rate a movie.

On the whole even though I've given the movie a relatively lower grading I cannot ask any Bollywood fan to not watch this simply because no matter how flawed the script is, the CGI will just blow you away! And yeah make sure you watch it in 3D on a good multiplex screen :)