HERCULES (2014) – The Review

For the last few years, Summertime has been super-hero time at the multiplexes. It seems ever other week another costumed character with incredible abilities is battling away for a big chunk of the box office pie. But what about the original amazing avenger? Sure the MAN OF STEEL was here last Summer and is gearing up for his return (when he’ll face off against another hero). Nope let’s go way, way back to the real original, that demigod HERCULES. The superstar of Greek mythology has been a cinema staple since the late 1950’s when American Steve Reeves laced up his sandals in two surprise hits imported from Italy. Reeves was the first of many famed body-builders to portray him right through 1969 with Arnold Schwarzenegger in HERCULES IN NEW YORK and 1983 with TV’s Hulk Lou Ferrigno in a pair of low-budget epics from Cannon Films. The man of muscle also went animated, first with a series of syndicated shorts (with a snappy theme song) in the 1960’s and in the 1990’s Disney did a full-length musical feature (around the same time that actor Kevin Sorbo became a syndicated TV staple in a long-running live-action series). Why just this past January the import THE LEGEND OF HERCULES starring Twilight series hunk Kellan Lutz left an (ahem) aroma in theatres. The body builders have had their time, how about a wrestler? No doubt, this guy’s the biggest movie star to come out of the ring. Make way for Dwayne (“the Rock”) Johnson as HERCULES.

As the film begins, an off-screen narrator relates that oft-told origin story: fathered by the king of the gods Zeus, birthed by a human woman, cursed by Hera, fought fearsome giant creatures as part of his twelve labors. Said narrator is Iolaus (Reece Ritchie), Hercules’s nephew and public relations man. But some nasty pirates have heard enough and decide to execute the motor mouth. But Iolaus has bought enough time for the big man, Herc (Johnson) to find him. The lion-hooded hero and his posse’: greedy Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), seer sage Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Amazonian archer Atalanta (Ingrid Bolso Berdal) and wildman Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), make short work of them. Turns out the real Herc is not just a good Samaritan, he and his band are hired mercenaries and they soon get wind of a new job. The ruler of Thrace, Lord Cotys (John Hurt) needs them to aid and train his army of farmers against the menace of the mysterious Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann) who supposedly has an army of demons and centaurs! The promise of gold and the pleading of Cotys’s widowed daughter Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) convince Hercules to take the job. But as the mission begins, somethings just don’t add up, as Ergenia wonders just what happened in Athens that got Herc exiled.

Seeing him swinging his big club (watch it!) and pulling on the lion’s head, you wonder why Johnson hasn’t taken on the role before. He seems born to play the son of Zeus. Yeah, sure he’s got the physicality, but Johnson has the acting chops required for this very different take on the big “H”. He needs to sell himself as the myth in order to intimidate his foes and get hired for new jobs. Often he seems to be an early “mythbuster”, proving that the Hydra was a group of men wearing reptile hoods (like a certain cartoon great Dane’s teen buddies). And somehow, he makes the larger than life muscle-man more human and vulnerable than ever seen on-screen. He’s haunted by ghosts of his past and is hesitant to open his heart once more. Fortunately his pals understand. Ritchie is entertainingly energetic as the teen sidekick who tires of being the team’s “carnival barker”. And McShane has a snarky laid-back charm as the mystic who is certain of his fate which allows him to be foolishly fearless on the battlefield. And Hurt lends the proper authority to his regal role. The whole cast is equally comfortable with swordplay and wordplay.

Kudos to director Brett Ratner for keeping the movie rolling along at a brisk 100 minutes (something that directors of action epics would be wise to emulate) and for making excellent use of 3D. Spears, arrows, and swords appear to hover just above the audience reminding us of the fun gags of those 1950’s flicks (the paddleball guy in HOUSE OF WAX). Plus there’s excellent outdoor photography in the bright sunlight as opposed to the muddy skies of the green screens of the 300 films. There seem to be more real sets than many other fantasy flicks which help sell the sequences of countless forces gathering (I know they’re combining things with pixels, but it’s well done). Some of the battles go on a bit too long and are too chaotic to easily follow (c’mon, let us catch a breath!) while much of the carnage is too tidy, perhaps to avoid a dreaded “R” rating. But the film is much better than it needed to be, certainly miles above the feeble effort from earlier in the year, and it even has some of that old studio Cecil B.DeMille kitchy fun. If you’re needing a nice nostalgic trek back to those matinees (or weekend afternoons in front of the tube) starring beefy sword and sandal heroes than HERCULES will more than deliver the goods, along with the muscle (to spare).

3.5 Out of 5