Ancient Conflict

 

Tarsem Singh‘s visually spectacular Greek mythology epic Immortals opened last Friday to mixed reviews and a $32 million box office weekend opening.  Some call it a “living, breathing, work of art” while others ask “doesn’t Greece have enough problems already?”  The film is an artistic depiction of several classic Greek myths including that of Theseus, the Minotaur, and the Titanomachy.  While the film does succeed in being an impressive visual spectacle, the story ultimately falls short and those looking for an emotional connection to the characters will likely be disappointed.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 37%  aggregate with its Top Critics giving it a 22%, while Metacritic gave it a 47 out of 100.  In other words when a movie gets “mixed reviews” it usually just means the movie sucks.  Most of the films issues lie in the screenplay, but if you are a movie fan or Greek mythology buff you should definitely check it out.  Regardless of Singh‘s artistic direction or perhaps lack-there-of let’s take a look at Immortals’ four main characters with limited spoilers.

A father-less peasant named Theseus played by the new Superman Henry Cavill serves as the Artisan in the film, being highly skilled in martial arts and utterly fearless.  Indeed it is Thesseus’ fearlessness that prompted Zeus to train him and provide guidance for him in the disguise of an old man.

An oracle priestess named Phaedra played by Freida Pinto serves as the Idealist in the film, being highly spiritual and gifted with visions and premonitions of the future.  Indeed it is Phaedra who took notice of Thesseus’ destiny and affinity to the gods, and helped guide him along his path.

A ruthless and bloodthirsty mobilizer named King Hyperion played by Mickey Rourke serves as the Rational in the film, who rose from an unwanted peasant to the most powerful man in Greece.  Hyperion is a mercilessly efficient leader and does whatever needs to be done to fulfill his aim of de-throning the tryanny of the Olympians.

The King of the Gods Zeus played by Luke Evans serves as the Guardian in the film, as the one who must enforce the rules of the Gods at all costs, while also protecting his Olympian family from the threat of the Titans.  Indeed Zeus is forced to execute martial law when one of his fellow Olympians breaks the rule of not interfering in human affairs.  He is also ultimately forced to defend his family’s right to the throne of Mount Olympus, which is probably the coolest part of the film.

Quote1.png If there was one human who could lead them against Hyperion, it would be Theseus.  But it has to be his choice. Quote2.png

Zeus (Immortals)

6 thoughts on “Ancient Conflict”

  1. Athena was a Rational, not an idealist. She is the goddess of arts, crafts, and sciences and while she is a war-goddess she is goddess of purposeful strategic warfare rather then of Ares like bloodlust.

    Probably Apollo would be the idealist. He is enigmatic and mysterious, gives cryptic oracles, and is in charge of healing.

    1. Sure enough, we were originally going to use Apollo as the Idealist but he was not in the film. In the future if we talk about Greek Gods we will surely use Apollo or Aphrodite as the Idealist. Unfortunately people have already voted and we cannot change it. Thanks!

      1. Wouldn’t Aphrodite be an Artisan too, being the courtesan of Olympus and all?

        Isn’t remarkable how much Olympus looks like a Meditteranean palace and Asgard looks like a Nordic Chief’s hall? And of course Aphrodite would be the palace courtesan.

    1. I think “goddess of love” was sort of a redo by later storytellers. While romance existed in Greek myths it seems to have had a less important part in their mythos then in ours. I’m not sure as a lot of my knowledge comes secondhand too.

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