Hercules (2014)

This is the second Hercules movie to come out this year, and it is certainly by far the best, though admittedly that isn’t saying a whole lot (I couldn’t bring myself to finish The Legend of Hercules, it was that bad). In this more recent take, Dwayne Johnson fills the title role, and he definitely makes for a much more imposing and interesting version of the legend.

Make no mistake, this is very much a swords and sandals type of movie and if that isn’t your sort of thing, you probably won’t care much for this one, but if it is, you could definitely do worse than Brett Ratner’s Hercules. It’s loud and fun and kind of dumb, but it seems fully aware of this and simply invites you to relax and enjoy some brainless action (and the action is pretty satisfying and well done).

 Of course, there’s plenty wrong with this movie, the fact that Brett Ratner still has a career,  the names are horribly confusing and impossible to remember, and the accents are all over the place (seriously what’s with all the varying British accents in Greece)? However, the movie did manage to win me over in the way it decided to tell a new version of the legend. Rather than pretend like Hercules really was a demi-god and tell the story as if the legend were actually true, the film takes a different route, showing how Hercules and his group of misfits carefully forged a mostly fictional reputation, which nearly all of the random Greek citizens in the film end up believing.

I also have to give a shout out to Ian McShane, who took what easily could have been a boring and cliché narrative role and made it fun and added just the right amount of glib; his were the only “funny” lines that managed to make me chuckle.

Again, if you’re looking for something more than just dumb entertainment, you’ll most likely want to look elsewhere; however, if some brainless action is just what you’re looking for, Hercules could be right up your alley.

-Ryan Maples

Rating: 7.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1267297/?ref_=nv_sr_1