Movie Review: Hercules
The Rock worth his weight in gold
Movie: Hercules Rated M
Reviewer: Usman Azad
Rating: 7 and a half/10
A few days before I went to see the latest blockbuster Hercules, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, American freelance film reviewer Eric Snider made an interesting observation on Twitter.
“Dwayne Johnson is a very popular movie star for someone who has almost never been in a good movie, ” he said.
There is some truth to this because Johnson’s success in movies has come in cameos (think of the last three Fast and Furious films).
He is nicknamed “franchise Viagra” for his ability to boost flagging movies but arguably he has never led a critical success.
His fame as an actor is based around promotion and advertising but in reality he has never really been a quality leading man.
So it is almost uncanny how well he embodies Brett Ratner’s incarnation of the mythical Hercules, based on a popular comic series.
Johnson’s Hercules is famed for being the son of Greek god Zeus and for single-handedly performing 12 great labours.
But in reality we find he is just an orphan who became a strong, talented warrior but is now a mercenary who only fights for gold.
His great labours were all done with the help of an equally talented and fiercesome team. For the sake of the story the most important is Hercules’ nephew, Iolaus (Reece Ritchie), who helps to spread and hype-up his uncle with overblown stories.
Little time is spent on introducing you to the rest of this rag-tag bunch of mercenaries which includes Hercules’ right-hand man Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), beresker Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), Amazonian Atalanta (Ingrid Berdal) and seer Amphiarius (Ian McShane).
They find themselves in the ancient city of Threece when they are given one last job by the ailing Lord Cotys (John Hurt) that will deliver the ultimate payday, Hercules’ weight in gold.
They then have the job of training a bunch of inexperienced men into hardened warriors to take on Rhesus who is plundering the countryside with his famed half-men, half-horse centaurs.
A big theme of this film is the idea of myth versus reality. All of the supernatural horrors apparently facing Hercules and his team turnout to have ordinary explanations.
Even Hercules himself plays down much of his own legend although admits it helps to scare his enemies on the battlefield.
Hercules is a refreshing way to experience the swords and sandals genre. It reminds me of how Christopher Nolan tackled his Batman trilogy or how Paul Greengrass delivered his gritty Bourne movies.
It is shame Ratner didn’t push his Hercules into the same direction instead keeping much of the veneer of a high-budget Hollywood flick, jam-packed with special effects.
This is a movie that is full of laughs and is a lot of fun. As a moviegoer I couldn’t help but enjoy myself.
The end is satisfying and should be enough to set-up a sequel. But is it enough to alter Johnson’s perception that he is better suited to high-powered cameos? Not really but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of this film.
