FILM: Reviews

Immortals
From director Tarsem Singh comes a retelling of story in Greek Mythology which sees a human named Theseus (Henry Cavill) being manipulated by Zeus (Luke Evans) to challenge King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) who is in search of a magic bow that can release the titans and overthrow the Gods, writes Callum Walters.
The visuals are enchanting as Singh delivers superbly with stunning imagery in almost every scene. The sets are spectacularly designed and give the film an epic feel. The action sequences are also a particular strength of Singh; they are brutal, blood soaked, violent and captivating. They are by far the most entertaining scenes in this movie. However, the narrative is rather dull and tedious with the acting of Cavill often so cringe worthy it’s obvious that he landed the part due to his looks.
Even though Rourke tries his best to deliver a great evil and sinister performance he is unable to carry a whole movie on his shoulders. Immortals is worth a watch for its visuals and fight scenes alone, Rourke delivers a good performance but don’t expect that from any other actor in this movie. Think of the action of 300 with worse acting and more tedious cast.

The Rum Diary
The latest adaptation and onscreen revival of a Hunter S. Thompson novel, The Rum Diary, is a calmer affair compared to previous adaptations - people expecting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas will definitely be disappointed with this adaptation, writes Michael Samuel. If you’ve read the novel, upon which the film seldom reflects, you will be aware that this is a younger, subdued Hunter (as seen through character Paul Kemp). 
Johnny Depp’s Kemp is an aspiring writer, flown to Puerto Rico to work on a less than inspired newspaper writing bowling articles and horoscopes. In his first few days there, he meets Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), an ex journalist turned real-estate mogul and his girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard), with whom he falls utterly in love. Kemp is quickly involved with Sanderson in exploiting the untouched islands of Puerto Rico when he is employed by Sanderson to write a travel brochure. This involvement exposes Kemp to an underbelly of rotten politics that challenge his ethics as a writer, while his attraction to Chenault grows noticeable.
Whilst the film is beautifully shot and paced, performances throughout The Rum Diary seemed a little too flat. The film re-imagines and respects Hunter’s book to good measure and whilst the scenes and action take place in sequence, there is not enough of a strong narrative backbone to support them. The Rum Diary is flawed, but nevertheless a tense viewing experience.