Hercules - Analysis and Review

The Legend comes to life... No not the one with Kellan Lutz

This year saw the arrival of two movies about the legendary Greek Demigod Heracles...I mean Hercules. Sorry, Greek Myth nerd here. Hercules is the way Romans say his name. Heracles is his Greek name. But since the Roman name sounds better, people just stick with it.

The Plot

After accomplishing his legendary 12 Labors, Hercules (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) wanders the Earth as a mercenary after suffering a traumatic loss. With his band of mercenaries, they are recruited by King Cotys of Thrace (John Hurt) to train the Thracian army into an efficient fighting force against a massive army of Centaurs that have divided their land.

Analysis

If you read my Educating the Audience article about Hercules then you know that I have a lot of knowledge on the subject. From his story being an influence to the hit video game God of War to knowing this film is based on Steve Moore's graphic novel, The Thracian Wars. So one can assume that being this knowledgeable would make me a harsh critic for this film. I am, but not as much as one might think.

Review

Remember that movie back in January called The Legend of Hercules starring Kellan Lutz and a bunch of stunt guys from 300 and Spartacus? The film is considered an atrocity. And for anyone who saw it, immediately proclaimed that they are now extremely excited to see Brett Ratner's take. Which given Ratner's reputation as the man who ruined X-Men: The Last Stand, that is saying a lot.

I'll say this right off the bat so that people who haven't seen it yet can go in with this expectation: the fantasy elements of the story are not real. Given that the film is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars, I partially predicted this would be the case. All the scenes of The Rock... I mean Hercules killing and beating the living shit out of monsters was just a story used to build his reputation. It helps as a great prologue, yet also adds a little bit more dimension to the character as a man who has to live up to a reputation he believes he can't. A reputation that gets him and his companions hired for jobs. And if you looked like The Rock, you would believe all those exaggerated stories are true.

The plot unfolds the way one would think. It is a fairly predictable movie once you know the fantasy element is gone. When someone claims they're going to be fighting centaurs, it actually means whoever saw this was really high and just saw a bunch of people on horseback. But just because it's predictable doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable.

Despite having some really cheesy dialogue, and I do mean really cheesy dialogue, the actors in this film relish it. They don't seem ashamed of what they're saying, because they're having so much fun. And while usually that would detract from the movie, the performances are so good that you'll be having fun along with them. Particularly the major comic relief characters of the film played by Rufus Sewell and Ian McShane as Hercules' best friend and really high fortune teller. They have some of the best lines in the movie, especially McShane's character. 

But it is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who shines in this movie. While his performance isn't groundbreaking, his charisma carries this movie well. With what little emotive acting he can muster, it is just enough for us to believe the inner demons he possess. This movie could've easily had a dark and brooding Hercules, but luckily it didn't go that route. They take advantage of The Rock's charisma as a man who puts on a front as a proud and welcoming hero who hides his trauma. After all, keeping appearances is part of the con for a man pretending to be the son of Zeus.

I do find it very odd that super models Irina Shayk and Barbara Palvin, who were heavily promoted in commercials, were in the film very little. Palvin was only in it for 6 seconds. Shayk on the other hand was in it for a fair amount of time. Though the promos made it seem like she would be in it a lot  longer. Shayk plays Megara, Hercules' wife and mother of his children, and only has one line. She does play an important role into Hercules' backstory but other than being a loving mother in one scene and naked in another, she didn't really have much to do. Given that she's a model and not an actress (she even stated this in interviews herself) it was obvious that she was meant for just eye candy. But given what her role was, it could've been expanded to add a bit more to Hercules' backstory and weight given what happens to her character.

The action scenes in this film are solid. They are obvious rip offs of Gladiator and Troy, but at least they are good rip offs rather than The Legend of Hercules which does a horrendously bad rip off of the over done fighting style in 300. While this film is suppose to be a realistic take on Hercules, the way he fights does come off a bit too unrealistic. Again though, if you're going to sell to people that you're demigod then the action suits him just fine.

Final Thoughts

There hasn't been any good Greek Mythology films in a long time. By a long time I mean since the Ray Harryhausen era. But this is a suitable film to sate the need for Greek myth movies. Is it amazing? No. Is it bad? Kind of but not terrible. Is it fun? ABSOLUTELY! The way I'd describe it is that this is the movie Brad Pitt's Troy and Sam Worthington's Clash of the Titans wishes it could be. More Troy though since that was a more realistic take than mythological, and they have the same costumes. But all in all, this was fun.

SCORE: 6.5/10 - The best Greek Myth film of this generation...yet not the greatest Greek Myth film of all time