Is Hercules the son of Zeus or is he just a man? This film takes a more realistic1 interpretation of the hero. Sure, he performed many incredible feats. But in this film he is helped out by his band of plucky killers and his legend is enhanced by his nephew’s story-telling. It never hurts to have your enemies believe you are unkillable and the son of a god, does it?
Here, Hercules and his band of merry peoples have been driven out of Athens, rumour says he murdered his wife and children, and they are making a living as mercenaries. One more job and they’ll have enough gold to let them retire in comfort2 . So when the daughter of the king of Thrace comes to them, promising them Hercules’ weight in gold if they will help against the aggressive Rhesus and his possibly supernatural army, all agree that this is the job they can retire on.
Blah blah blah, much fighting ensues. Some of it is cgi-rific. Some of it isn’t. Its fairly entertaining stuff. To be honest it was all very meh until the double cross comes.3 But look, it is what it is. And it is what it sets out to be. A fun no brain summer action flick. If you expected more than that, well, then you deserve to be disappointed. Sure, it could have more heart and more emotion to it, but it isn’t that sort of film. Its a watch and forget sort of film. If you go to the cinema on a regular basis, and there is nothing else that strikes your fancy, and you enjoy nonsense action, then this won’t be a total waste of money. If the cinema is a rare outing for you then don’t waste your trip on this one.
Other reviews : Rope of Silicon (didn’t enjoy it. Grade D) ; Slate Magazine (seems to agree with me. Not good. But not terrible) ; Metacritic
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