This Hercules film stars Dwayne Johnson as Hercules and is directed by Brett Ratner who some may know as the director of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Many know Dwayne Johnson of course as the Rock from his time with the WWE TV series. The film follows Hercules and his adventures after he has completed the majority of his labors and challenges which make up the majority of the Hercules mythology.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlRRiWhuSzo[/youtube]
In this film Hercules is a mercenary for hire who completes certain tasks in exchange for gold. He’s also kind of a bounty hunter at times as well as he goes after certain mythological creatures such as the Hydra. Hercules is not alone though in this film and has a group of companions. His companions comprise of Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and Tydeus (Aksel Hennie). Hercules’ companions help him out on his various missions and as a team they back each other up when things get dangerous or in most cases try to keep the myth of Hercules going. Things get complicated for Hercules and his friends though when they accept a contract from Lord Cotys (John Hurt) which may just be their last endeavor, but can the mighty Hercules overcome this final challenge?
Overall I thought the plot of the film was actually much better than I expected. After watching The Legend Of Hercules (2014) earlier this year I had super low expectations for this second Hercules film so going into it I didn’t expect much. But I’m glad to say that it does hold up quite well. The writers of the screenplay who were Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos did well I thought to stick roughly to the mythology of Hercules. I think that for people who don’t know who Hercules is or what he did then this movie is a good entertaining introduction to the character and after it they can do their own research and read more on the mythology of the character. In this sense the film is good, unlike The Legend Of Hercules (2014) which was horrible to watch and wouldn’t make anybody want to read more on anything to do with Hercules, this one does do that.
Hercules is an interesting film and I liked the concept of Hercules having companions. I also enjoyed the mythological elements that were added in, while it’s mythological they didn’t go so crazy or out there to make you think what was happening was unrealistic. The film has a world that was created within it and didn’t deviate to far into the unrealistic side. This is what makes it a superior film to The Legend Of Hercules (2014) which went crazy with the unrealistic elements such as the lightning whip or gladiator arena’s in ancient Greece! This film stayed quite true to Greece and the ancient world, while not fully tied to history completely it didn’t go so far away from it to tell its story.
The acting in Hercules is well done and the cast I thought were very well chosen. So far out of the Hercules films I’ve seen, I would now place Dwayne Johnson as the best Hercules of all time. I could tell he put a lot of physical work into becoming the character and I thought really pulled off his character for this film. I also think that out of all the Dwayne Johnson films, this is the best one that he has made. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal who played Atlanta, which is the Amazonian warrior character/companion of Hercules did really well with her role. I almost start to think that she could pull off a Wonder Woman role very easily. The rest of the cast were okay but it was Dwayne Johnson and Ingrid Bolsø Berdal who stood out the most to me from watching this film.
The tone for Hercules is action with a bit of comedy. It’s not a completely serious movie and there are a lot of jokes here and there put in with a lot of one liners. It’s a light entertainment film and I think the action delivers enough for someone to enjoy this experience. The film comes with a nice message of believing in yourself and trying your best to overcome all challenges in life just like Hercules. It’s a nicely done film and I think the filmmakers tried their best here to make it the best it can be.
Overall I enjoyed watching this movie and was well satisfied after watching it that I had a good time with this one. It’s light entertainment that many people can enjoy and for those looking to be introduced to Hercules and the mythology then I think this is a good starting point. Hopefully the film results in more people going out and exploring the history a bit more and that’s a good thing. Dwayne Johnson is a great Hercules and if there was to be a sequel to this film, I would happily go and watch it.
