Hercules

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Hercules
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell
Directed by Brett Ratner

Synopsis:
Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), the demi-God from legend, might not be the man we're led to believe.  His nephew, Iolaus (Reece Ritchie), tells the heralding tales of his Uncle Hercules to their enemies in hopes of scaring them, and Hercules swings in and saves the day.  As a hired mercenary, Hercules and his band of warriors travel the land doing favors for money.

When he comes upon a kingdom ravaged by war, he is enlisted by Lord Cotys (John Hurt) to save his kingdom from Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann), a warrior on the warpath.  However, all is not as it seems, and Hercules and his men find themselves in the middle of a war that's much bigger than they expected.

Review:
In seeing the previews, one would expect to see a Hercules who battles his famous twelve trials, which would've been amazing.  Unfortunately, the previews literally take place in the first ten minutes of the movie, and the remaining film is nothing more than a cheap "Mummy"-style knockoff, diluting the heroic Hercules into a mere mortal (possibly) who roams the lands in search of an easy buck.

Brett Ratner is known for destroying good stories (such as his abysmal "X-Men: The Last Stand"), and he does the same disservice to the legend of Hercules.  Character development is non-existent.  There's no forward motion of the characters,  and the action is highly PG-13 style.  Dwayne Johnson's portrayal could've been something of pure amazement, but the script watered-down the titular hero into a generic color-by-numbers character you could find in any film.  If you re-named Hercules as someone else, the film would have the same effect.

Having two failed Hercules moves in the same year, I seriously doubt Hollywood will dive into that pool again, which is a shame, because the story of his twelve trials is something of legend, and with the right director, could be a monumental epic.  Instead, we're left with this drivel.

Summary:
If you want to really enjoy the film, see the preview.

My Rating: C



...
Ian McShane ...
John Hurt ...
Rufus Sewell



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