Greetings readers! After a decidedly needed week’s break in Canada, where it actually DID drive me kinda nuts that I was NOT able to write this review LAST weekend when the film came out…though….in my defense…I actually just saw the film THIS weekend…..so…LOL ANYWAY….I am back home and it’s time to get to work. Therefore, without any more ado, I give you…..”Hercules”.
Directed by Brett Ratner, who is no stranger to Summer event films (having done “Rush Hour 1“, “2“, & “3” plus “X-Men: The Last Stand“), this newest incarnation of the mighty mythological hero is played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (“Walking Tall“, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation“, “Fast 5 & 6“) and finds us getting an initial look into the demi-god’s past (he is the son of the god Zeus and a mortal woman), from birth through the completing of several of his famous “Twelve Labors”, facing mythical beasts on behalf of the king of his homeland, King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes), and keeping the peace, until tragedy strikes and ultimately, Hercules leaves his home to become a mercenary, heavy in heart and weary of the world and its ways, finding solace only in battle. Despite this, the legends of his heroic exploits grow, mostly thanks to tales being told by his nephew Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) who is saved from a predicament he finds himself in by Hercules and his like-minded compatriots: the seer Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), and Amazon warrior Atalanta (Ingrid Bolso Berdal). This leads to Hercules and his few friends to be called upon by the King of Thrace, Lord Cotys (John Hurt) who propositions these five battle hardened warriors with promises of vast amounts of money if they would raise up and train an army for him to fight a great nemesis of his, Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann), who supposedly employs demons and other mythical creatures to fight for him in his quest to conquer. Cotys’ daughter, Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) also seems keen on him assisting her father in this task. Already dealing with his own violent past and losses, Hercules reluctantly agrees, all for the money, and he and his warriors set to their task to train Lord Cotys’ men. Circumstances force them into confrontation with some of Rhesus’s “demons” too soon, despite Hercules’ warnings, and more loss is found in this decision, while in the aftermath having to deal with an army who is beginning to doubt that Hercules is truly the mythic hero he has always been out to be. When finally confronted in battle with Rhesus himself, things are found to not be as they appeared on many levels, and Hercules has to face a new a challenging decision that will affect not only him, but all those around him that he has come to trust and even love, all while having to finally face his past, weed out treachery, and become who is he destined to be. Short and to the point, yes, and as I will always continue to point out, spoilers are NOT my thing, so further details being revealed would constitute this occurring, and hence…..no more story details can I give at this point.
To start, I have to immediately point out that this film version of Hercules was SO MUCH MORE entertaining than the horribly weak “The Legend of Hercules” that was out back in January (you can see my review of THAT here), which was just simply BAD on all fronts. While we of course are NOT going to expect Oscar nods in pretty much any category with a film of this nature (which is FINE as well), at least this version doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film is EXACTLY what I was hoping for…fun Summer escapism. Sure, there were attempts at pathos and a “deeper” story being told, which was all well and good, but let’s be honest….we just want to see Hercules BE Hercules! And Dwayne Johnson delivers that….plenty of great battle sequences showcase the awesome power of this legendary demi-god and Johnson relishes playing this type of character, I can just tell when watching it. Now he DOES most certainly BRING a level of acting and emotion TO the part (unlike Kellan Lutz‘s cardboard cut-out earlier this year) and of course the writing in the film can often be borderline (if not full on) cheesy to most, but yet, Johnson pulls this off in a simply more engaging, FUN, way. Ian McShane is wonderful in pretty much ANYTHING he does, whether serious or comic, and here he dabbles in both effectively. John Hurt and Joseph Fiennes are both the kind of actor that can play the elder King and/or authority figure types well, and they both do so again here. In fact, there are actually so MANY truly superb actors IN this film (Hurt, Fiennes, Sewell, McShane) that that ALONE makes it a thousand times more worthy than “Legend”. Visually, the film does not let us down either, from the myriad of creatures we see throughout to the epic level, over-the-top battle sequences…it all works together to give us the taste of mythological mayhem we, again, expect and dare I say DESIRE during this time of year when this IS the style of movie we see from Hollywood. We have time to be serious in the Spring, Fall, and Winter months, so just give us some good old fashioned sword and sandal candy to chew on. “Hercules” is that film, and worth at least one viewing for that chance to get away from the real world and go back in time to the ancient days of heroes, with some camp thrown in for good measure.
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
