A new action hero is born as Gods and men clash in the visually stunning Immortals.

Where the remakes of Clash of the Titans and Conan the Barbarian failed to quench the thirst of fantasy action fans, Immortals should appease many a swords and sorcery junkie.

An amalgamation of Greek myths brought to life by one of the finest visionary directors working today in Tarsem Singh, Immortals looks as though the sculptures which adorn the halls of museums have come alive to act out there glorious heroics, with a cast of pretty young things with chiselled bods portraying these ancient heroes and putting to shame us mere mortals munching on popcorn.

Leading the charge is Superman himself, Henry Cavill. He plays Theseus, the peasant son of a slain mother who leads a revolt against King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) a cruel warlord who declares war against the gods, thus placing the future of mankind in jeopardy.

Muscular in build and commanding in presence, Cavill proves his worth as an action hero who kicks butt convincingly while presenting the good against Rourke’s twisted evil. Rourke does a good job in keeping things low key and sinister, delivering his dialogue through a low register growl which although inaudible at times, is never the less effective.

Most of the performances are fine in spite of a predictably wooden script. Yet this is a film about style and mood and with that criteria in mind Immortals succeeds, with Singh using green screen effects very well to create a vibrant, ancient world full of brutal violence (including one ball busting scene).

Also good is Singh’s handle on the visual effects and action choreography, opting not to adopt the shake ‘n’ roll others have embraced and instead allowing his camera to absorb the vibrancy, violence and characters,  with one more photogenic than the other.

Exactly how Immortals would have turned out under another directors eye is anyone’s guess. There is a lot going against it with not enough juice in its drama, a middle section that lags and a script that needed Singh’s visual touch as a distraction.

Immortals isn’t a movie worthy of the Gods, but as an artistic piece of action eye candy it is worth seeing, especially on the big screen.