Let's get one thing out of the way upfront: this is by far the best Hercules movie to come out this year. The value of "The Legend of Hercules", released back in January, was that it reached levels of "so bad it's good". This film, simply titled "Hercules", is legitimately good, and I had a lot of fun with it.
The movie's take on its main character is that his mythical exploits we know of through mythology are just that: mythical exploits. While he is a genuinely strong and courageous fighter, we learn that tales of his famed "12 Labors" are greatly exaggerated. In some cases the threats he defeated were not all they were cracked up to be. In other cases he had help from his band of followers. The character embraces the legend to further his reputation, but in reality this is a world in which mythical creatures do not exist, even though many still believe in them. I enjoyed this take on the character. The filmmakers found a way to pay homage to the traditional Hercules story while not being beholden to it. This is the best approach to take with such a character. "The Legend of Hercules" almost completely ignored the actual mythology, to its detriment, as it was a Hercules film in name only. Likewise, a film that sought to faithfully retell the traditional story beat by beat would have felt boring and rote, much like "Son of God" did as it trudged through each of Jesus' exploits in an obligatory manner. By recognizing the existence of the myth of Hercules, then using it as inspiration to go off in their own direction, the filmmakers liberated themselves and the audience from preconceived expectations about the character.
The new adventure the film has for Hercules isn't by any means sensational or groundbreaking, but it's a lot of fun and even has a couple nice twists. As much as I'm capable of analyzing a film after seeing it, I'm also pretty good at shutting my brain off while actually watching, allowing myself to enjoy the film in the moment, without trying to figure out what the next "surprise" might be. Because of this, while others might find the twist midway through the film predictable, I found it to be clever. I knew something had to happen to keep the movie going, and the twist didn't shock me or anything, but it did make me think, "Okay, that's cool. Let's see what happens next."
There are several action sequences in the film, which is to be expected. They are shot and edited well, providing adequate entertainment if no true jaw-dropping moments of spectacle. They benefit from an uncertainty as to exactly what will happen. I've mentioned this before, but it's really becoming clear to me that the best way to make an action sequence boring is for the audience to know how it will end. If the sequence revolved around a MacGuffin like: The hero has to hit the button to stop something bad from happening (this was the gist of the climax in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"), then most anything that delays him is pointless unless the filmmakers build up adequate tension. We know the hero is going to succeed in hitting the button, and it feels like killing time to delay the inevitable. "Hercules" doesn't feature any action scenes with drastic levels of tension or uncertainty, but it has a large enough supporting cast that I was willing to believe it might kill off one of them at any time. That small bit of not knowing what's going to happen was enough to make the action more interesting to watch. The actual climax is not a huge scale affair as summer movies go, and perhaps it underwhelms a bit. Still, it leaves room for growth in any potential sequels. After all, there are action sequences in the first act of "Iron Man 2" that dwarf the original film's climax in scale (and prove that bigger action does not always equal a better movie).
Finally, I want to briefly mention the film's cast, as it has a few standouts. John Hurt and Joseph Fiennes give reliably decent performances playing fairly thin characters. Dwayne Johnson is naturally charming and brings a nice edge to the role of Hercules. He bulked up more than usual for the part, and it shows. This Hercules is a man, not the boyish character played by Kellan Lutz in January's film. The real scene-stealer, however, is Ian McShane who plays Amphiaraus, a member of Hercules' crew and a man who receives occasional glimpses of the future "from the gods". He claims to have had a vision of his own death, which emboldens him in battle since he knows his time has not yet come. McShane gets a lot of the film's best comedic moments, but also manages to get serious and deliver a dramatic, intense, and effective pep talk just when Hercules needs it the most.
This is definitely a film worth seeing. It's not high art, but its creative take on the title character and the combination of action, comedy and other elements should make it a real crowd pleaser.
B+
On a side note, I wrote and posted my review for "A Most Wanted Man" yesterday, but decided I wasn't happy with it and rewrote the review a few hours later. If you're interested, check to make sure you've read the latest version.
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