Immortal
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Movie Reviews of Immortal
Movie Review: Outstanding visual experience
Summary: 4 Stars
Bilal is best known as a comic artist. I've liked his work visually: he tends towards a restrained and idiosyncratic palette of colors, but uses strong color where it makes a point. He makes each character stand out, and counts more on visual impact than physical credibility for bringing his worlds to life. I've always found uncertain narrative development in Bilal's stories, but with visuals that keep me going to the end.
That's what this movie was like: visually powerful, but baffling as a story. Ancient Egyptian gods come to Earth, in a massive pyramid poised over a major city. The city takes surprisingly little notice, until an exiled god seeks a human host body, then seeks a human female. OK, it's enough to carry the movie, but nothing spectacular. It's all the characters that make it work as an experience for the eyes, with their distortions, exaggerations, and unique visual style.
That style is carried in an alternation of live action sequences (with CG effects, of course), and animation on a par with Final Fantasy. The alternation wasn't quite seamless, but wasn't quite blatant enough to act as a narrative tool - I hope his future films make better use of each medium's strengths. The general styling stuck close to the subdued colors of Bilal's comics, even a restrained blue for the skin tones of the Jill, the female lead. Color dominates only in the final scene, richly enforcing the "new day dawning" theme.
"Immortal" is a remarkable crossover for a well-known comic artist, apparently adapted from his "Nikopol Trilogy" of DC comics. It's an exciting effort, and enough to keep me eager for more.
//wiredweird
Movie Review: Raw Science Fiction Presented with Distinction
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the things we as Westerners must realize is how spoiled we are as film-goers in the sense that we expect the best production values. "Immortal", a French-made film based on a very cerebral comic book by Enki Bilal, forces that realization on us by presenting a beautifully made film with deliberately(?) dated CGI effects. The main characters, not including the god, Horus, are all full-flesh actors while supporting charcaters are computor generated, these particular effects predating "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" by at least two years. As Western viewers this might seem like a short-coming for a film released in 2004, but this supposed short-coming only adds to the poignancy and distinctiveness of "Immortal".
I will not provide a plot summary. The film's story is grand and heavy just as true science fiction was meant to be. French actress, Linda Hardy and Russian actor, Thomas Kretschmann are more than capable of embodying thier characters. And veteran English actress, Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool) adds a sense of class as a curious doctor of genetics. This film is a unique piece of art done in a style not seen by most film-goers. "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is brought to mind for many, but not all, of the scenes are done in front of a green screen. For those of you who enjoyed "Bladerunner", "Existenz" and any stylized sci-fi of more recent years, "Immortal" will not disappoint in its very unique approach to concise and thought-provoking storytelling. Gorgeous film!
Movie Review: Immortal
Summary: 4 Stars
Immortal is a mix of CGI and flesh and blood actors. At times the CGI is obvious (skin is still notoriously difficult to render), but the backdrops of a futuristic New York are considerably better done. The technology on display is clunky and grubby - the air cars bring back thoughts of the fifties and trams (or trolley cars on the other side of the pond).
The story revolves around Horus who is allowed back to Earth for seven days - a single beat of Gods heart - to visit the planet he created. He comes with Bast and Annubis in a floating pyramid, but inhabits the body of a human much of the time.
As you might expect with a God, he's obsessed with sex, specifically finding and making pregnant one woman. She has blue hair and white skin and has just appeared from an alien intrusion in Central Park. She takes the rape (which is shown as a very mild sex scene) by a God unnaturally well.
The film ends with her and her child in Paris, but it doesn't feel set up for a follow on.
Over all I enjoyed the film, although I'd have liked a better explanation of John and the death of the Mayor. I liked the Egyptian Gods though!
Movie Review: Visually Rich
Summary: 4 Stars
This film, which is an odd combination of the Fifth Element and the Mummy, takes a bit of getting used to. Most of the characters are rendered in CGI, which gives the film a very, artsy feel. At first I wasn't sure I liked the film, but the film managed to pull me in., despite the fact the story is winding and not at all easy to understand, and the plot jumps more than a hyper frog, something about this film is very captivating.
The film is roughly about an escaped convict, a rogue Egyptian deity, and a woman with no past and an unknown future named Jill. Somewhere included is corporate greed, police that have been horribly deformed, twisting monsters, genetics tests, and flying cars. It makes for a very odd jumble.
And if you're one who likes plot threads resolved, this isn't your movie. Most of the minor plot threads are left dangling, but the film captivates you so much you'll have a hard time caring.
Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.
Movie Review: Old fashioned future
Summary: 4 Stars
In short the plot is the following one : there is two stories in parallel :
- An egyptian god is sentenced to death and has seven days for impregnating a pretty female in order to survive through a son or a daughter.
- a corrupted politician implicated in the traffic of organs is trying to kill a rebell (Nikopol), released accidentaly, after he had been frozen for thirty years; the politician is afraid that Nikopol knows too much about his illegal activities.
- this rebell and this female fall in love each other.
The film is aesthetically beautiful mixing several visual influences (Tarkovski's Stalker, Cocteau's 'Testament of Orpheus', the aesthetic of the Bilal's comics and also coming from his earlier films); the film is not truely action packed but rather atmospheric.