Hercules Review : Hercules is just a no brainer action flick , if you were looking for a complex subplot, grey characters and a uber cool climax ending you would be very very disappointed, but that doesnt make it a bad movie, Free of the rigors of being original or complex, the movie is open to accomplish its minimal goals of entertainment, and to this end I would call the movie a mild success. Firstly, the film has a slow start. We see almost motion comic footage of Hercules doing his 12 labours in slideshow form, with Hercules face hidden in silhouette. So I felt a little cheated. Then we have a scene which tries to set up what makes this version of the main character different than any other version we have seen before. I wont give it away, as its basically what the film is about. But it tries to play with our knowledge of him. It doesnt ignore the back story of his wife and kids, but glosses over those parts until it becomes necessary to divulge that information. Again, i think it would have been better to see it, rather than be told what happened. I knew his history and so was wondering if they would portray this properly. Instead they do something to set-up a villain for the end which I wont give away. Just know that they do tie up all lose ends as needed, but a prior knowledge of who this character is and what he has done does help the viewer understand his motivations and his life up to this point. Brett Ratner makes big, dumb movies. Now, strictly speaking, theres nothing wrong with that. Not every movie has to win Oscars galore; some movies can exist solely to entertain. However, even with that caveat in mind, Ratners track record isnt great. For every fun, silly entry in the ridiculous Rush Hour franchise, theres his bigger, dumber, altogether more reviled version of an X-Men movie to scrub off the CV. Hercules - a cheeky-yet-sombre reinvention of the Greek hero and myth - lodges itself somewhere between the two extremes. Its big and dumb, sure, and often in a hugely amusing way - but, at other times, its actually impossible to ignore the films frankly terrible plotting. Special mention for the support cast, I especially feel the Herculess band of merry men did a top notched job acting wise and really carried the flimsy script and action scenes to watchable heights.and lastly I wasnt bored for a second in the 98 mins movies and thats a huge plus in my books. Hercules may be ridiculous, over the top, & directed by Brett Ratner, but this surprising adventure film shines as a fun and entertaining as hell romp which gives you exactly what you expected. Dwayne Johnson brings a lot to the film, including his fun persona and large muscles, that even his cheesy and crazy performance is fun enough to enjoy. Its a strange film that takes time to get used to, but by the end you will be satisfied with the results. I truly thought this movie was going to be a catastrophe, and while its anything but great, it gives us the good old fashion summer action that we pay to see.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 06:01:59 +0000