HERCULES (2014)

HERCULES (2014)

Tagline: Before he was a legend, he was a man.

(Adventure, Adventure, He Will Rock You) [PG-13]

In this moment, on this day, become the man you were born to be. You have it within yourself to write your own legend. Let it be to death, or Victory!

Just saw this one today in 3D at the IMAX at AMC. This take on HERCULES I can tell you right now is just going to piss a lot of people right off. It’s based on the Radical Comics version and is not even close to what most of us are used to. Let me be very clear, Hercules in film and in the comics has been ALL OVER THE FREAKING PLACE…. in some adaptations he is a full-blown zero-to-hero story (most early films and Disney), and in others, he’s committed rape (DC Comics) and in others he just what the freak ever. So in spite of my first sentence, I would really really try and suspend what you THINK you know about Hercules.

This movie tracks the legend who is not really quite what he seems to be. I know I know you are used to Kevin Sorbo and so am I. This time Dwayne Johnson and he pulls it off in such a way that it almost feels like if this film does get roundly panned, it will not have ANYTHING to do with Johnson’s performance. He is pretty freakin good in this. In some very smart casting he is surrounded by some outstanding performances that are not flat, but really well done (a lot like some of the more likable characters in CLASH OF THE TITANS). We get an outstanding and very unpredictable twist in this film that has a payoff so worth it that some of the film's shortcomings are forgivable.

So what are the shortcomings? Well, most of what we thought Hercules might be facing is told in such a quick fashion that it might affect how you view the entire rest of the movie. The heavy dose of story and adventure made so much of this movie not only un-expectedly FUN but felt like a really cool epic adventure. The bad part was that most of the movie does not feel like your expectations based on the latest previews. This movie could get completely ripped, but for what it’s worth, I actually quite enjoyed it. For moviegoers, you don’t need 3D and you don’t even need a huge screen in spite of some of the pretty well-done visuals at times they seem to be set off by moments of B-movie CGI that have you thinking “What the crap”. I do have a strange affection for this movie for just displaying the guts it did and I will be buying it.

The good news, this movie does celebrate strong females, it does celebrate war tactics and training, and it does celebrate throwing CGI horses like rag dolls. I give this movie a 5 out of 7.