Movie Review: "Hercules" (2014)The legend of the most-promoted Greek mythology character adapted with help of a graphic novel from Radical comics; An ensemble cast unmotivated to start with title-role inhabiting actor Dwayne Johnson, who had been the choice of a life-time to character-fine-artists actor Ian McShane, completely lost in costume and splendor of mediocre, uninviting production design; A hundred million U.S. Dollar budget follows Producer/Director Brett Ratner into horrible conceived visuals, which are so static and wooden-act outs that even first looks hurts the eye as the brains, if even the distributing Studios Paramount Pictures & Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had have the guts to bring the picture to an R-rated state of blood and gore spilling, matching the club-swinging Hercules, then the spectre might have said it goes all along entertaining for genre fans of historical action. But this picture pends between mythological monster engagements in minor explicit scenes, where some shots as a jumping lion onto fearless engaging Hercules are agreeable, which unfortunately are not followed into suspense-creeping horror scenarios and given further way to unnecessary mass battle sequences of mismatching continuities in a mashed-up editorial, which can not be helped even in a revisit of the footage.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

I was galvanized by this movie! I remember the trailer. I was eagerly licking my chops in anticipation of viewing it soon. Unfortunately, life gets in the way, and it is only now that I can report finally viewing it in its entirety. Regardless of the liberties taken with the Mythos of the Son of Zeus, I thoroughly enjoyed this version of the Hercules tale.The beginning was great and called to mind the paintings done by the great Frank Frazetta for the Conan and Tarzan covers. The visual appeal of the opening sequence is so exhilarating that afterwards you are ready for the holes being inevitably poked into the fabric of the Hercules legend. This is for the adults, who, unlike children, cannot take things at face value and must bring logic and 'facts' into the fun. Compared to the graphic novel, by Steve Moore, the look and the feel of the film is a decided improvement. When Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes his first appearance in the opening scene wearing a lion's head as a helmet, he looks just like the character I read about in a children's book when I was seven years old. Face it, in Hollywood, looks are everything. This explains the enduring appeal of Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. The fact that she actually looked like the comic book character come to life at times towered over such trivialities as character and plot development. Here Dwayne Johnson embodies the character in his own way much as did the late great Steve Reeves. You believe he is the real Hercules no matter what is said about him and his adventures.I remember watching 'ZENA: THE WARRIOR PRINCESS' and reading later in TV GUIDE how it took half a dozen ladies of similar appearance to Lucy Lawless to create the Warrior Princess myth. Lucy did all the acting; especially in the tight closeups; but there was an alternate Lucy for the swimming scenes, a Lucy for the jousting and sword fighting scenes, even a Lucy for the bareback riding and crucifixion scenes. The point being it took a whole team of people to create the legend of 'ZENA: THE WARRIOR PRINCESS'! This is the point with this version of 'Hercules', I believe. Here we have a warrior of unusual strength who goes around with his own myth-making machine. The sundry details of his labors and adventures are dubious and moot. But the hyperbolic way in which he is 'presented' to his 'public' is Hollywood merchandising mocking itself with a knowing wink. This is a Hollywood Hercules before there even was a Hollywood; and as Kirk Douglas used to chide John Wayne, yes, it may be true that he did not really kill all those Indians, but still, he sure packs a hell of a wallop in a bar fight.Let me not mislead you. I'm not writing this to convince you there is something profound or philosophical going on here in this movie. Quite the contrary. What I do like about it is the light play between fact and public relations. We are told at the end of the story that this is the 'truth' about Hercules. But you get the feeling that even this is to be taken with a grain of salt, because somebody may be carefully parking their tongue in their cheek for popcorn and ticket sales.

Of the two Hercules films released in 2014, this one is the far superior of the two. The other being the awful 'The Legend of Hercules', with Liam McIntyre as its sole saving grace. 'Hercules' was very flawed and was very misleadingly advertised, but it was decent.Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is a charismatic and likable Hercules, and much closer to what Hercules should be like than the disaster that was Kellan Lutz in 'The Legend of Hercules'. He is not a "great" actor, but there is something appealing about him here, he does look more comfortable than some of his other performances (he has come on a lot since 'Doom' for example) and he has fun with his one-liners.Rufus Sewell in a different role is amusing, and even funnier is a scene-stealing Ian McShane, although his material is basically a big running joke it's a very funny line and remarkably doesn't wear thin or become repetitive. John Hurt very rarely gives a bad performance, many performances of his are magnificent in fact, and while he has been better he is good here. Ingrid Bolso Berdal is a striking and strong presence as Atalanta.Mostly, 'Hercules' looks good, looking more of a cinematic release than the straight-to-DVD-schlocky look of 'The Legend of Hercules'. It's beautifully shot and while one is reminded of '300' the editing is not as stylised or as indulgent. Costumes and sets are much more tasteful and easy on the eye. There is an appealing over-the-top-ness with the odd embracing of the cheese factor without being too ridiculous, and the darker moments do have tension and emotional weight. Love the chemistry between Johnson, Sewell and McShane, and it is definitely the film's strongest asset. What there is of the action is exciting enough, and the music is fitting and pleasant even if not mind-blowing.Brett Ratner's direction is a bit routine however, and the story, while with good moments and at least it is clear what it's trying to be, is generic and over-familiar. The script is not as bad as that of 'The Legend of Hercules', but does feel underwritten and clunky, while of the characters the only really interestingly developed ones are Hercules and Amphiarius. The rest are stock, especially the villains, who are poorly played.Joseph Fiennes in particular is catastrophically bad to the point of unintentional comedy. The special effects are a little weak as well, rather artificial.All in all, nowhere near as bad as expected. Not in terms of advertising, it was actually pretty intriguing but those wanting a proper adaptation of the legend will find themselves short-changed (the only resemblance really is in name only), but more in correlation to how much 'The Legend of Hercules' stunk and there was the worry that 'Hercules' would be as bad or worse. Luckily, while still heavily flawed, it is much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Right, well given the background of the movie, being Hercules and all, and it starring Dwayne Johnson, then I must admit that I didn't have the highest of hopes or expectations to this 2014 version of the legendary Hercules.I did find myself very surprised throughout the course of this movie, because it turned out to be a very entertaining and enjoyable movie. And hats off to the writers for coming up with a more plausible and realistic approach to the tale of mighty Hercules. And also a hats off to Dwayne Johnson, because he really impressed with this movie, as he carried the role quite well.I am not going to go into details about the storyline, because I assume you already are more than familiar with tale and myth of Hercules. But this movie differs, because director Brett Ratner took a very hands-on and pragmatic approach to the story, keeping it quite real, though with a hint of fantasy.There was a good continuous flow to the storyline and the various events that took place along the way. There was a very visible red line throughout the entire movie, without any confusing detours or distracting sub-plots.The effects in the movie were quite good, but the fight scenes were particularly impressive. And there were lots and lots of fight scenes. And the CGI creatures in the movie looked realistic and quite nice, as did the rest of the CGI that was added to many scenes.One thing that did sit like a thorn in my side was when Hercules used the f-word. Yeah, he did that, which was very periodic inappropriate. He said "f-ing centaurs", and at that point I was fearing that the movie would take a turn for the worse. But luckily it was just a single slip.The cast in "Hercules" were doing good jobs, and they had some very good talents on the cast list. And these actors and actresses were portraying some richly detailed characters that were quite impressively brought to life on the screen. Dwayne Johnson carried the movie quite nicely, although it was somewhat of an acquired taste to see him with that set of hair and that beard. But also Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell and Aksel Hennie really brought something very distinct to the movie with their on-screen charisma and ways of portraying their respective characters."Hercules" is a very enjoyable and entertaining movie, especially if you enjoy the fantasy genre. Just keep in mind that this is not a full-blown fantasy movie. I was genuinely surprised and entertained by "Hercules" and I am rating it a very solid seven out of ten stars.