I had high hopes, but low expectations.
My hopes were high because Tarsem Singh is easily one of the most gifted directors, visually speaking, working today. And after ‘The Fall’, he showed that he was a masterful storyteller as well.
But as soon as the marketing folks started touting ‘From the producers of ‘300’, I got nervous.
As a graphic novel, 300 was cool. Frank Miller is a gifted story teller as well. And it was an entertaining yarn. But in the hands of Zack Snyder, it became a masturbatory slow-mo mess more about bulging pecs and screaming beardos than anything else. And I was concerned that the producers would strong arm Singh into playing to that crowd. This combined with the 3D element had me on high alert: would one of the most promising filmmakers working in Hollywood get buried under all that Hollywood bullshit?
Thankfully, he was not.
The 3D was expertly used, from the first shot. And never used gratuitously. It served to convey depth and breadth more than objects popping out at the audience, which is a novelty I grew tired of the second or third time I saw it used. The production design was gorgeous: certainly inspired by ancient Greek aesthetics and architecture, but never hindered by it. The Gods were beautifully represented: golden and lithe, contrasting beautifully with the muscle bound mortals covered in blood and grime. And the fight choreography was brilliant: fluid and graceful but still visceral enough to make you cringe. Strong performances from Cavill, Rourke, and Pinto.
I hope this does well at the box office. Singh already has one (of the 3) upcoming Snow White pictures, so producers are willing to bank on his talent. But if he can establish himself as a consistent commercial success, we have some truly exciting films on the way.
That’s about that.
My brother just picked up Skyrim, so I am likely going to watch him go down that rabbit hole for the next few hours. But first, there is work to be done: a redesign (really v2.0) of an actor friend’s site, and some quick work for rabbitmovers.com.
Until next time,
SR