Educating the Audience - Hercules starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Audiences know who he is. He is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson! Actually, no, that's not who I'm talking about. Everyone has at one point or another heard of Hercules or as he is most commonly known in Greek Mythology: Heracles. Yup. Hercules is merely a Romanization of the Greek name that means "Glory to Hera." Why he is called such is because his mother knew that after conceiving a child with Zeus, his wife Hera would not approve of another illegitimate offspring. Though at this point Hera has grown  extremely fed up with Zeus sleeping around with other women and decided to actually cause great amount of suffering for poor Heracles. Fortunately for Heracles, he was the first of Zeus's children to be born with extreme powers. Most notably his tremendous strength. So in a sense, physical threats become obstacles but he will always have an edge. That is where Hera has to go to the extreme in order to really make the bastard son of her husband really suffer. I bring up this point to address an issues among people who view the trailer for this movie.

Acknowledging the God of War Comparisons

From the new trailer that can easily be found on youtube, many comments have pointed out that his story in this movie seems too similar to the story in the critically acclaimed video game: God of War. The game has a Greek mythology setting and tells the legend of a man named Kratos who was driven mad by Ares, the God of War, into becoming the greatest warrior in Greece. However in order to make him unstoppable with nothing to hold him back, Ares drove Kratos to insanity to the point where he didn't realize that he was murdering his wife and daughter. Once realizing what he has done, he breaks free from Ares and vows to kill the god who made him the greatest warrior.

In the new trailer it shows Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) witnessing the death of his wife Megaera (played by Russian model Irina Shayk) and his three sons at the hands of Cerberus, the three-headed monster dog. Whether or not that's what actually happened is questionable due to the way the trailer is edited, but it is strongly suggested that Hercules sees the death of his family. This sets him on a path that is not clearly defined in the trailer if he is seeking revenge or if he's lost in life and just lives as a mercenary.

Now, for people who have played God of War, this will immediately seem like a rip off. When in fact, God of War borrowed (see I said borrowed not ripped off) the idea of killing one's family from the actual Heracles myth. In the recorded mythology of Heracles, Hera concocts a plan to really make him suffer by poisoning him with a hallucinogen that makes him believe his wife and sons are monsters. Believing he has killed savage beasts he discovers in horror that he ripped his family apart with his bare hands causing him to want to kill himself. He was stopped though and imprisoned by the King of Thebes (his half-brother) who decides that in order to redeem his horrifying act of murder he must complete 12 Labours that only he can accomplish.

So NO gamers, this movie doesn't rip off of God of War. God of War "ripped off" of the Heracles myth. It should also be interesting to note that the trailers give the impression that his 12 Labours are more like heroic deeds he accomplished before he was married instead of his sentence for murdering his family. This puts this version of Hercules right where they need him to be since this movie is also based on another source:

It is based on a comic - Hercules: The Thracian Wars

The movie is a semi-adaptation of the Radical Publishing graphic novel: Hercules The Thracian Wars. In it Hercules travels with a group of mercenaries after completing his 12 Labours yet still haunted by his past. In the comic he is recruited by the King of Thrace to turn his army into the most dangerous army in the world. After Hercules and his motley crew do so, they begin to realize how violent they are and plan to put a stop to the large army of monster they helped created.

From the trailer it only looks like part of this plot is taken. It can only be assumed that John Hurt is playing the King of Thrace and he does recruit Hercules. But in this film it looks like he recruits him because they're at war with a renegade god. Though at the same time it still looks like Hercules and his crew will be training the army into a force of killers so there is that. The strange thing is the graphic novel makes the story of Hercules more like a real person with his deeds being over exaggerated accounts of what he actually did. In the film it looks like the filmmakers decided to keep the fantasy elements in tact, probably to draw in the audience familiar with those elements.

And there you have it. All you need to know.

These were just some of the problems and questions I wanted to point out about the film. Whether or not this movie will be good is still questionable as Greek Mythology films of late haven't really been memorable. Here's hoping that this iteration turns out to be at least a decent flick unlike that other film starring Kellan Lutz. If you don't know what I'm talking about, best that you don't know.