Heist movies are a personally favorite genre so if I just see a DVD cover that hints towards that genre, I don't think twice before buying it. Immortals was one such discovery. What it had going for itself apart from the DVD cover was the fairly bankable cast of Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Curtis and Chris Rock leading an ensemble set.
Immortals begins in a disoriented way where director Brian Grant tries to tell us too many things in too little time. The idea must've been to spring right into the midst of action but it doesn't quite work. In one swoop, we are introduced to the protagonist who is hatching the plot, the 8 parolees (too many to begin with) he has collected in his task and the heist itself. Typically, all good heist movies will spend sometime setting the context right and that is completely missing in this movie. Things happen so fast that by half-time, 6 out of the 8 are already shot and fighting for survival. Tony Curtis makes a decent appearance but does little to salvage the film. The wooden Eric Roberts, who leads the team, on the other hand does little for us to empathize with him.
Immortals is an example of a movie that is not only ludicrously written but also directed equally badly. To give you an example, there is a showdown between two gangs in the middle of the movie where 8 people from Robert's gang engage in a gunfight with 8 people of Curtis' gang. Remarkably after the smoke settles, we see all of Curtis' gang dead while each of Roberts' gang survives. Apart from Curtis, Chris Rock and Tia Carerre put in just about average performances and even that isn't enough for this movie to merit a watch. In other words, Immortals makes a great case for never judging a DVD by its cover.
If anyone suggests you to watch it, ask them to pay you. And then depending upon how much is being offered, you can consider it.
Rating: 2/10
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