It’s 2095. Do you know where your asprin is? I wouldn’t call “Immortel [ad vitam]” one of the worst films ever made, but I didn’t enjoy the film, even though I wanted to. What comes from French/Yugoslavian comic-book artist Enki Bilal, who created the main character of Nikopol in French magna, is a nice looking visual feast of cityscape and some unusual and sometimes interesting sights, only to have the film fall apart due to a clumsy story and some CGI characters which are too unusual for taste.

Linda Hardy and Thomas Kretschmann are our heroes of the film, both having struggles in our futuristic world; she’s a mysterious pale white mutant named Jill Bioskop, with light blue scales and can read emotions and/or minds, and sees a specialist Eugenics doctor on a regular basis. Nikopol, on the other hand, is a political prisoner who was freed not by chance, and after a leg injury, gets a new one made of steel. The um, ‘person’ who helped him escape and get a new leg, is, uh, this…guy…named Horus…well, I’ll tell you what. I’ll get to him in a bit. But let’s just say for now Horus has seven days to revisit the world he helped create, and find a fertile female to mate with in that timeframe before he goes bye-bye.

Let’s break down the main strengths and problems:

Strengths: There are great CGI 3D shots of cars and buildings. Some of it reminded me of “The Fifth Element”, but instead of warm color tones the filmmakers elect for colder blue-steel tones. It’s still great to look at. Besides, when it comes to influences in French magna, the obsession with hi tech taxi cabs is almst a staple. Some of the makeup and costumes are just fine. The live actors are okay. The story, while a bit “out there’ is still mildly interesting, most likely because it is “out there” and you have to keep viewing to see what silly or crazy thing crops up next. It’s the year 2095, and a floating pyramid appears. What does it mean? Is anybody in it? Most of the citizens have only a passing curiousity; other than that it seems they mind thier own beeswax.

I’ll also admit I found Linda Hardy somewhat likeable, and she’s fine on the eyes, with or without hair. There’s also this wierd red hammerhead shark thing that flies around, a creature who hunts seleted prey and kills them. There is even a plot point that a minor character’s physical appearance was the resut of an attack by the creature, who can bust through walls, yet slime up through the water supply. There is a mild laugh when the CGI Egyptian gods are playing cards and board (or is it bored?) games.

Sadly, weaknesses outweigh the good stuff and I can see where a lot of people would despise this film. In a word: Horus.

Horus and his CGI Egyptian pals are not fully rendered as other CGI characters. They move stiffly, and the voice overs for those characers -specifically Horus- are just awful. It could be a bad dub translation, because other CGI characters don’t have dialog matching lip movements from time to time, but I doubt it, since the real life actors don’t seem to have this problem. The real life actors, such as Charlotte Rampling, have another problem altogether: getting upstaged by a CGI character, only the scenes aren’t stolen, they are just…distracting. The CGI 3D background and costumes compliment the live actors but they do not support the CGI characters. I don’t think the film should be among the ‘who is the first with the CGI background enviornment thing’ because not all the characters were played onscreen by real actors.

Also, I’m not too crazy about the idea of “Horus” possessing Nikopol , and forces a bit of rough sex on our heroine. Then I’m curious about what appears to be a slight bit of …well, let’s put it this way: Horus is a CGI beefcake god wearing only his bird head and loincloth/thong, and in one scene, has a theraputic discussion with his host. Read into that what you will. Finally, as much as I like Miss Hardy, she is dubbed by another actress, Barbara Scaff, and I wished the DVD only just had a French track with subtitles. Not that it really helps the inane dialog any, but it might be less painful.

The film would have worked a lot better if one of the following steps were taken by the filmmakers:

1. All the characers are CGI. While Horus may be still painful to watch, the idea of this being more like a ‘Final Fantasy Spirits Within’ would have worked and they would get away with it.

2. Or ALL the characters, including Horus, were cast with live onscreen actors. Because they are not, I would not count this film as being in the same ballpark as ‘Sky Captian’ or ‘Sin City’, even if the CGI backlots used in these films are the only link with each other. Close, not quite.

Now the film could be a better expierience for the viewer if:

1. You increase your caffiene intake;

2. You change your DVD language option and put on the subtitles. Anything to block out Horrible Horus.

Directed by: Enki Bilal
Starring: Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, Charlotte Rampling.