Review by E.C.McMullen Jr.

IMMORTEL (Ad Vitam) - 2004 TF1 Films Productions / CiBy 2000 / RF2K Productions Rated: France: U / Germany, Switzerland: 12 / Netherlands: 16 / Singapore: M18 / USA: R

Okay, now this movie is a fun but complicated romp so let's see how much I can explain in as few words as possible. Ready? Here we go!

French Graphic artist and writer, Enki Bilal brought his excellent series, NIKOPOL to the screen with his film, IMMORTEL. The film involves the following storyline -

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THE LEADERS OF NEW YORK CITY HAVE NO IDEA WHO OR WHAT IS IN THE FLOATING ALIEN PYRAMID, BUT THEY TRY TO GET OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT.

IMMORTEL begins with a woman who has inhuman powers being imprisoned on what appears to be a slave ship. The slave ship is from a company called Eugenics and flies through the air. Speaking of air, there is a bright day sky lighting the city of New York in 2090. Speaking of 2090, a massive pyramid floats in the air, not surprising anyone in this future age, but certainly giving them pause.

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The pyramid contains a group of highly technologically advanced life forms who call themselves Gods. They believe they created us so who knows? But one of them, Horus (Thomas M. Pollard: FRANTIC, DEMON LOVER), has got his fellow immortals sick to the teeth with his antics. Soo mad are they that they've decided that he can't go through whatever it is they go through to remain immortal. Instead, Horus has seven days before he buys the farm, so he is allowed one last visit to earth.

THE DECAYING HORUS WAKES FROM CRYOSLEEP TO ENJOY HIS LAST WISH.

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In 2090, artificial biological replacement parts for humans is so advanced that losing your arm and getting it replaced with a living artificial biological model that is even better than your original is strictly an outpatient deal. However, it does change your biological makeup somewhat, as well as your metabolism, and it also ... hey, everything is a tradeoff! But it doesn't make life easy for Horus because ...

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When Horus created women lo those many years ago, he had his future in mind. If he screwed the pooch with his fellow immortals and someday found himself in his current situation, he could inhabit a human male's body and impregnate a human female to insure his long life. What he didn't count on was that artificial body modifications, whether necessary or for luxury, change the human body so much that he can't inhabit them very long without gruesome problems.

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Meanwhile, an air floating prison craft has a problem where several of their pods fall off. From out of one of them dangles the still living body of Nikopol (Thomas Kretschmann: THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, BLADE II, RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE, KING KONG [2005]). Niko lost his leg in the crash, but otherwise he is the perfect shell for Horus.

Meanwhile,

HAVING FORCED NIKOPOL TO RAPE AND INSEMINATE JILL, HORUS LEAVES THE HUMAN BODY.

There is a serial killer on the loose that the police are investigating, particularly, Detective Froebe (Yann Collette), who lost a large chunk of his head to one of the last of an alien race called Dyzaks. Unfortunately for Det. Froebe, his artificial transplants are government regulation issue and appear entirely utilitarian. And nobody realizes that the serial killer is none other than Horus, who accidentally killed those men when they rejected his presence within them.

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Also,

There is Senator Checker (Olivier Achard), who has many skeletons in his closet and all of them are known by the company, Eugenics, which owns him and controls him through another pawn of theirs, Lili Liang (Corinne Jaber). Now there is not only a serial killer on the loose, but someone is killing cops, there is a pyramid hanging over the New York skyline, and on top of everything else, the hero of the rebellion and the darkest secret Senator Checker has, Nikopol, has escaped prison and is somewhere in the city.

NIKOPOL BEGS HORUS NOT TO MAKE HIM RAPE JILL ANYMORE. BUT A GOD DOESN'T CARE WHAT A HUMAN WANTS.

And finally, even though the graphic novels were all about Nikopol, this movie is really about Jill (Linda Hardy). Jill is the woman from the slave ship. She is rescued by Dr. Elma Turner (Charlotte Rampling: ASYLUM, FLESH OF THE ORCHID, ORCA, ANGEL HEART, SUPERSTITION) who discovers that the human appearing woman is not a human at all. The doctor, who is experienced with humans, mutants, humans who've had their bodies modified to look like aliens, and even a few true aliens, is stunned by Jill. Jill is neither alien or human or even has the internal organs to work in any capacity on earth. What's more, by the second, Jill is changing and becoming human. Jill agrees to let the doctor study her, but also makes time to spend with a mysterious character she calls John. John assures her that she is indeed becoming human, even though she really isn't a part of this universe at all.

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Okay, while I found the acting below dinner theater standards, I loved the concept, the story, the pace, and above all, the look. The special effects knock the hell out of anything seen in FINAL FANTASY, SKY CAPTAIN and the WORLD OF TOMORROW, KAENA, or, for that matter, CASSHERN, which had a great trailer but was a really lousy lost and meandering film.

Now normally I don't give a squat about the special effects if the movie sucks - but the movie didn't suck. The story was involved and complicated, yet while it came close to confusion, it didn't fall over the edge into an anticipated mess. And what with the complicated plot and all of the many subplots, the end of the movie ties together nicely. The dirty, dystopian feel of IMMORTEL is offset by its retro futuristic architecture, the 1950s style futuristic flying cars, the mostly daytime shots, and a pace that is often breathtaking.

Many great ideas are thrown out at the viewer and I've not felt such a rush from a movie since I saw THE MATRIX.

The WOW factor in this movie is hot. IMMORTEL blows away all past attempts at adult animation of the past 10 years. From FINAL FANTASY to HEAVY METAL 2000.

IMMORTEL rocks!

4 Shriek Girls.

This review copyright 2005 E.C.McMullen Jr.



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