From the producers of 300 comes this neo-mythic tale of Theseus (Henry Cavill), the mortal chosen by the gods to lead the fight against Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), a ruthless king intent on awakening the vanquished titans to defeat the gods and destroy all of humanity. Cavill, on his way to becoming the next Superman, flashes his action chops here, but as the commoner who rises up to lead the charge against a nefarious force, he fails to hold the screen or our interest.

Forget aspiring to the mythic or the legendary, Cavill doesn’t even achieve a semblance of the Everyman who might be heroic (which means he’s likely to be a rather brittle Man of Steel).

As an enemy, Rourke wears the mantle (and the ceremonial headgear) like a pro. During his resurgent second life, Rourke hasn’t bitten off more scenery than he can chew, which is actually too bad because he looks like he could grind and digest several helpings with little effort. Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) lends his potent visual acuity to these majestic proceedings, but Immortals fails due to an epic attempt to transform each frame into a singular blood-splattered event without grounding the narrative in characters or some sense of human drama. Grade: D-