Director: Brett Ratner
Writer: Ryan Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos (Screenplay) Steve Moore (Radical Comic ‘Hercules’)
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Reece Ritchie, Joseph Fiennes, Tobias Santelmann,
Plot: Having endured his legendary twelve labours, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Been Here Seen This
Story: Hercules starts by filling us in on the Hercules myth half human and half God. We hear how he completed his 12 labours giving him chance to live in peace from the Gods. Hercules (Johnson) has created a group of warriors that take out the unwanted armies. Hercules and his warriors are given an offer to take out a warlord Rhesus (Santelmann) for Lord Cotys (Hurt). Hercules must train the soldiers Cotys has as the battle gets closer.
Hercules comes off as a bit of let-down as if think I speak for all we wanted to see the 12 labours instead of an opening story that takes up less than five minutes of the film. The war between the two different sides ends up being boring and seem plenty of times before. It basically is no different than Dwayne’s Scorpion King we have legendary warrior who has involvement with Gods who fights for a king only to be betrayed before leading an uprising. The one good point is that we never see anything that is mythological as the stories try to tell of, instead it is just how things can be mis-read. This does have slightly better supporting characters who offer a lot more to Hercules’ backstory but in the end has been seen too many times. (4/10)
Actor Review
Dwayne Johnson: Hercules the son of Zeus and great warrior who been through the 12 labours to achieve his freedom from the gods. He leads a small group of warriors into battle against a ruthless warlord. Dwayne was built for this type of role and he does a good job with all the fighting and pure screen presence. (7/10)
Ian McShane: Amphiaraus a man who can see the future and is sent messages from the Gods. Ian offers the most laughs of the supporting cast as he keeps them on their toes about who will die and when he sees his own death his acceptance comes off very funny. (7/10)
John Hurt: Lord Cotys who hires Hercules and his warriors to fight against and warlord knowing he is only a mercenarily, but he doesn’t seem to be all we are expecting. John does the basic well and in the end he is just a big name in a film he didn’t need to be in. (5/10)
Support Cast: Hercules has a large supporting cast, we have the warriors with Hercules with the highlight being the beautiful Atalanta (Ingrid Bolso Berdal) as the deadly archer. We also have the standard names that fill this type of film, a general who dislikes Hercules, the princess who see him as the savior and the villain who is actually fighting the good fight.
Director Review: Brett Ratner – Brett does a standard job directing where he never pushes the idea to a level we haven’t seen and just tries to play safe and steady. (6/10)
Action: Hercules has very generic fighting scenes which all come off very well but offer nothing new to the genre. (7/10)
Chemistry: Hercules creates good chemistry between the warriors which shows while in battle. (8/10)
Settings: Hercules creates authentic looking settings for the battles. (8/10)
Suggestion: Hercules is one to try, it offers very little new but action fans might enjoy this. (Action Fans Try)
Best Part of Hercules: The idea of taking away the mythological side of the Hercules story.
Worst Part of Hercules: We should have seen more of the 12 labours of Hercules.
What Could Have Been Better? – 12 Labours are what makes Hercules such an interesting story, that is what we want to see too.
Action Scene Of Hercules: First big battle.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Could do
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Scorpion King
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $243 Million
Budget: $100 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
Tagline: Before he was a legend, he was a man.
Overall: Disappointing
Rating 
