hercules movie reviews

In Greek mythology, Heracles was the product of Zeus getting his Mt. Olympus freak on with a mortal woman. Heracles was named to honor his philandering daddy’s angry wife, Hera, but her vengeance had dire consequences for the future hero. Hera drove him insane, at which point Heracles murdered his wife and children. After regaining his sanity and realizing the horrible nature of his crime, Heracles accepts as penance the famous labors most of us know about from high school English class. These included defeating the Nemean Lion, the hydra and the Erymanthian boar.

This was the legend I expected from Brett Ratner ’s “ Hercules .” Instead, I and the 12 other people who showed up for last night’s screening were treated to yet another comic book adaptation by studios desperate to hang on to its stereotypical core market of men in states of arrested development. I know nothing about the Radical Comics series upon which this is based, but I sincerely hope it is not the half-assed, warmed over “300” rip-off its cinematic counterpart is. Watching “Hercules,” you can feel your intelligence being insulted in almost every frame.

Shorn of the graphic violence and blatant homoeroticism that made “300” gore-soaked camp, the PG-13 rated “Hercules” is left with poorly rendered CGI battles and a fear of any semblance of darkness. There’s also the potentially interesting idea of how one man’s legend can shape the minds and actions of many, but “Hercules” is afraid of that too. For all its violence, “Hercules” coddles you, protecting you from any kind of complex or sad emotion the material might inspire. It’s so afraid of upsetting you that it can’t even give its most interesting character the noble death it so beautifully sets up for him. Even the character is pissed off about this.

Ratner dispatches with the labors in the pre-credits sequence of the film, turning them into a story told by Hercules’ nephew Iolaus ( Reece Ritchie ). Iolaus is being held hostage by a band of pirates who suspend him over a long, jagged spear of rock aimed at his nether regions. “Hercules” posits that the legends of its titular hero have the power of scaring men into submission, but these pirates temporarily prove the exception. “That’s bulls—t,” one of the pirates exclaims after hearing of the Nemean lion.

Of course, Hercules ( Dwayne Johnson ) makes his entrance wrapped in the lion’s hide. Ratner shoots this as if Johnson were on the runway of a fashion show at Ernest Hemingway ’s house. Clad in fur and covered in smoke, Hercules announces his new role as mercenary for anyone willing to pay his price. He is joined by a crew of people including Amphiaraus the Oracle ( Ian McShane ) and an Amazonian archer ( Ingrid Bolsø Berdal ) who should have “Katniss Everdeen” tattooed across her beautiful forehead.

After dispatching the pirates and saving his nephew from a stalagmite-like enema, Hercules’ next job for hire is at the behest of Lord Cotys ( John Hurt , putting a much hammier spin on his “ Snowpiercer ” character). Cotys wants to stop the terrible reign of Rhesus ( Tobias Santelmann ), a leader who supposedly possesses otherworldly powers of persuasion and an animal-like appearance that, in a case of missed opportunity, is not that of a monkey. Hercules complains that Cotys’ army is far too untalented to face Rhesus, but a payment worth twice Hercules’ weight in gold changes Hercules’ mind. Cue numerous scenes of The Rock as Hercules as General Patton, speechifying and pacing before leading his hapless motley crew of an army into war.

Mythological heroes have undergone numerous changes throughout history, so there’s barely a shred of justification in complaining about how far away a story strays from its most well-known incarnation. However, I must grasp that shred to illustrate my point about how depressingly infantile “Hercules” is. Out of nowhere, Ratner and his editors suddenly insert bloody images of children and women being murdered. This flashback is so poorly edited that it’s never clear what’s happening, though it ends with a direct rip-off of Kubrick’s “ The Shining .”

Since “Hercules” had strayed so far from the legend, I was surprised the film would include Hera’s horrific revenge on Hercules’ family. These images torture Hercules whenever they appear, threatening to give the character some complexity. To Johnson’s credit, he attempts to play these moments in agonized fashion—he believes he has murdered his family. It’s all for naught: Screenwriters Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos work out an absurd loophole of absolution, pinning the murders on a three-headed dog instead of Hercules. The three-headed dog also turns out to be a hallucination; it’s actually three separate dogs. Responding to this development, the guy behind me at the theater let out a fierce snore. I envied him.

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, Dwayne Johnson was born to play Hercules. Like Ah-nuld, he’s muscular and not without an onscreen chemistry that’s at times perfectly mythological. And Johnson is a welcome change from the Nordic ideal mythical movies usually employ. It’s too bad that Hercules comes off as a supporting character in his own story. The armies do most of the fighting, and when there’s quiet, Johnson has to share the screen with his team. The movie is stolen by McShane’s oracle, who is the recipient of the aforementioned noble near-death scene, and Tydeus ( Aksel Hennie ), a warrior so scarred by violence that he is more animal than human. Tydeus’ backstory, which “Hercules” only hints at, is far more interesting than anything we’re following in the present.

The CGI is absolute garbage, and Dante Spinotti ’s cinematography is depicted as a muddy mess through the 3D glasses. Yet, there’s one moment that not only proves how little the filmmakers gave a damn but also saves this film from the no-star review it truly deserves. One of the villains is hit by the gigantic head of a statue of Hera that crumbles when Hercules pulls it down. The camera gives us a great look at the impact which, had physics been consulted, would have resulted in a juicy, delicious splatter. Instead, the villain not only remains intact after impact, he also rides the head off a cliff into oblivion. I laughed so hard I woke up the guy behind me. He was not happy.

Odie Henderson

Odie “Odienator” Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Rufus Sewell as Autolycus
Dwayne Johnson as Hercules
Aksel Hennie as Tydeus
Joseph Fiennes as King Eurystheus
Ian McShane as Amphiarus
John Hurt as Cotys
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as Atalanta
Brett Ratner
Evan Spiliotopoulos
Ryan Condal

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‘hercules’: film review.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays the mythical Greek hero in Brett Ratner's action-packed epic.

By Stephen Farber

Stephen Farber

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A movie based on a comic book or a graphic novel cries out for brevity, yet this year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier is 136 minutes, while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is 142 minutes and the new Transformers runs almost three hours.

COVER STORY The Drive (and Despair) of The Rock

The Bottom Line Arrows fly, monsters attack and heads roll in this schlocky but entertaining sword-and-sandals epic.

You’ll have to say one thing for Brett Ratner ‘s production of Hercules : This movie has a sense of proportion. Running just over 90 minutes, the movie is often clunky, but at least it’s fast and unpretentious. And its likable star, Dwayne Johnson , manages to murder legions without ever seeming sadistic. Less violent than 300 , less compelling than Gladiator , this new addition to the sword-and-sandals genre seems likely to please the fanboy audience and stir up some impressive box-office numbers.

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Hercules Reviews

Disney has found a Grecian formula that promises to be an Olympic-sized hit.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 18, 2024

Bursting with action and over-the-top goofiness, it's the most energetic animation to come out of Disney since Aladdin.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 18, 2024

Dazzling the eye, pleasing the ear, tickling the funny bone -- these are all the things you'd want from a musical comedy. And Hercules delivers, big time.

In the galaxy of Disney movies, it's near the top but not among the greatest like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and the original 101 Dalmatians. Still, a good-but-not-great Disney is Olympian fields ahead of the competition's best.

Full Review | Dec 18, 2024

Hercules has it all: fun for the kids, a nice object lesson or two, and enough humor to keep the grown-ups entertained. The Disney lightning strikes again.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 18, 2024

It's clever, empty, imaginatively drawn, more for adults than kids, and yet further evidence that the great American public is no longer thought capable of responding to anything beyond the present moment and their own backyard.

Directed by John Muster and Ron Clements, Hercules has the buoyancy of their The Little Mermaid (but not its excellent score) and the sass of their Aladdin (without being a one-genie show).

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Dec 18, 2024

Hercules, all told, deserves a Greek chorus of congratulations. Not every movie manages to be both hit and myth.

There are several reasons why people will flock to Hercules, one being its reassuring rootedness in the old Disney tradition, another being its imaginativeness in extending that tradition in new stylistic directions.

For grown-ups who want to see animation treated as an art form, Hercules is already a winner.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 18, 2024

Jazzed by a rollicking musical score from Alan Menken and David Zippel and boasting a prodigious cast of voice talents, Hercules is an Olympian effort that proves to be one of the funniest and most purely enjoyable animated films of recent years.

Hercules will probably not be remembered as one of Disney's greatest films. But that is only because it is following in the steps of immortals. Still, the new toon is funny, smart, imaginative and vividly realized.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Dec 18, 2024

As Hades, a fiend with blue-flame hair, James Woods just about walks off with the movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 18, 2024

The script is nimble and funny, mostly broad but sometimes surprisingly whimsical or quick-witted, as well it should be, with humor and polish added by former stand-up comics credited with an Emmy-nominated Seinfeld episode.

Hercules is never a bad film, but it's a lot like Saturday morning cartoons. It's an empty, emotionally unsatisfying movie that doesn't teach children any kind of lesson.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 18, 2024

Students of Greek mythology may have some problems with Disney's legendary liberties taken with the story. But kids and most everyone else won't care in the least. They'll be too busy enjoying the comic adventures.

Even as it murders Bullfinch, Edith Hamilton and Robert Graves, Hercules is a visual and verbal feast, a killer Olympian banquet.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 18, 2024

While Disney's 35th animated feature is not the stuff of classical studies, it is a classical gas.

The movie's overindulgence in reflexive winks directed toward a more adult audience upset the typical, successful balance between parodic humor and uncomplicated, action-fueled plot that other Disney animated features have achieved in the past.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 18, 2024

Packed with Olympian delights and Herculean feats of animation, snapping with live-wire wit and wisecracks, Hercules is one of the funniest and most purely entertaining of all the recent Disney cartoon features.

Film Review: ‘Hercules’

The mythical Greek strongman gets a refreshingly human spin in Brett Ratner's grandly scaled, solidly entertaining popcorn pic.

By Scott Foundas

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On paper, Brett Ratner sounds like such an improbable choice to direct a large-scale ancient Greek epic that, going into his “Hercules,” one could only hope for a less aggressively preposterous affair than Renny Harlin’s bargain-basement “The Legend of Hercules” from earlier this year. The happy surprise is that Ratner’s “Hercules” is more than a mere improvement on its predecessor. It’s a grandly staged, solidly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure movie that does something no other Hercules movie has quite done before: It cuts the mythical son of Zeus down to human size (or as human as you can get while still being played by Dwayne Johnson ). The result is a far classier pic than Paramount’s frenetic trailer — and decision to hide the film from reviewers until the 11th hour — foretold, albeit one that will struggle to find its sea legs at a crowded and underperforming summer box office. Overseas prospects look sunnier.

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Ratner’s film owes its counter-canonical premise to the late author Steve Moore, whose five-issue Radical Comics series “Hercules: The Thracian Wars” proffered a Herc who was markedly more man than god, his supposedly divine paternity a useful legend but perhaps no more than that. Screenwriters Ryan J. Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos have sanded down many of Moore’s rougher edges (including his Hercules’ volatile temperament and bisexuality) for this more family-friendly enterprise, but they’ve built on the idea of the warrior hero as a self-conscious mythmaker, inventing practical, real-world explanations for all of his seemingly superhuman feats. If the gods exist, they’re nowhere to be seen here. The multiheaded hydra Hercules reputedly slayed during the second of his storied 12 labors has become a band of marauders disguised with serpentine masks. And what of a supposed army of half-human, half-equine centaurs? Or Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades? All can be explained as mere tricks of the light, or the mind, while Hercules’ dutiful nephew and self-appointed biographer Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) transfigures the narrative into legend as he spreads it up and down the Greek countryside.

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The stories prove good for business, Hercules being in the mercenary-for-hire trade, which he practices in concert with a quartet of trusted confidants: Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), a childhood friend who rose with the orphaned Hercules through the ranks of the Athenian army; the fearsome Amazonian warrior Atalanta (Ingrid Bolso Berdal); shell-shocked mute Tydeus (the impressive Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie, from “Headhunters”); and mystical seer Amphiaraus (a superbly hammy Ian McShane), who sees much but is at a loss to unravel the mystery of the violent incident in Hercules’ past that turned him from conquering hero into restless wanderer. The group has a relaxed, Hawksian interplay with touches of humor — Amphiaraus, who claims to have presaged his own death, keeps misjudging the timing of the fated event. They also have one sole objective: a last big score that will allow them to settle into early retirement. (Civilization, Hercules muses, has become too much to bear — which, considering we’re still in the Iron Age, is really saying something.)

Opportunity knocks in the form of Princess Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), who implores Hercules and his cohorts to come to the aid of her embattled father, the kindly King Cotys (John Hurt), whose kingdom of Thrace finds itself at war with the powerful sorcerer Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann). So off to Thrace they go, with the objective of turning Cotys’ population of tenant farmers into a skilled fighting army.

In terms of sheer scale and craftsmanship, “Hercules” represents something of a quantum leap for Ratner, who until now has seemed most comfortable at the helm of lightly diverting, ’80s-style buddy comedies (“Money Talks,” “Rush Hour,” “Tower Heist”), and who appeared profoundly out of his element on the profitable but incomprehensible “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006). But Ratner has clearly learned a lot about large-scale action directing since then. “Hercules” consists primarily of three elaborate battle scenes held together by some quickly dispatched exposition, and the first — and grandest — of them is a genuine stunner. Arriving at the smoldering remnants of a village seemingly destroyed by Rhesus’ army, Hercules’ troops find themselves ambushed by legions of steely-eyed warriors in camouflaged body paint (think several thousand Col. Kurtzes from “Apocalypse Now”), and the violent rumble that ensues is staged by Ratner and ace cinematographer Dante Spinotti in clean, coherent pieces of action that build steadily in intensity.

We’re a long way away here from the disorienting whiplash effect of most modern action movies, as sweeping overhead vistas give way to carefully framed medium shots and closeups that hone in on specific bits of action. Bone and sinew smash against swords and chariot wheels. Arrows rain down from the skies (and, in the unusually good 3D conversion, right into the audience). Shields and armor clang resoundingly on the Dolby Atmos soundtrack. And while the battle proves devastating for those on both sides, viewers may find themselves exhilarated and slightly giddy at the end of it.

If “Hercules” isn’t quite as compelling off the battlefield as on, it certainly never dawdles, clocking in at just under 90 minutes (sans credits) and keeping ever mindful that the audience for a movie like this is there for the big guns (or, in this case, the big swords) and not the small talk. Ratner holds his ambitions in check: He isn’t trying to make his “Gladiator” or “Fall of the Roman Empire” here, and for all the handsome craftsmanship, he never tries to deny the Hercules story’s intrinsic schlock value. At its best, the movie harks back to the unpretentious fantasy adventures of an earlier era, chiefly Columbia Pictures programmers like “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963) and “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), right up to a fiery pit of doom finally complete with flaming torches, plummeting iron gates and one character enthusiastically bellowing “Unleash the wolves!” (All this before someone gets crushed by a giant stone bust of Hera.)

Ratner was smart to stack the cast with the kind of classically trained British pros who can make a line like “Unleash the wolves!” sound faintly Shakespearean. But “Hercules’” strongest asset is surely Johnson, who continues to foster one of the most affable, guileless screen personas in movies today. Johnson may have been born with screen presence wired into his DNA, but he’s gradually cultivated the skills of a canny actor who knows just how to play to the camera and whose brute physical prowess is cut with a sly self-awareness. More than anything else, it’s he who gives this Hercules his human-sized soul.

Among the uniformly top-drawer craft contributions, longtime James Cameron collaborator John Bruno merits special mention for his wonderfully tactile, detailed visual effects work, as does production designer Jean-Vincent Puzos (“Amour”) for his sprawling storybook sets.

Reviewed at AMC Loews Lincoln Square, New York, July 23, 2014. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN.

Production: A Paramount release presented with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures of a Flynn Picture Co. production in association with Radical Studios. Produced by Beau Flynn, Barry Levine, Brett Ratner. Executive producers, Ross Fanger, Jesse Berger, Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey.
Crew: Directed by Brett Ratner. Screenplay, Ryan J. Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on Radical Comics’ “Hercules” by Steve Moore. Camera (color, Arri Alexa HD widescreen), Dante Spinotti; editors, Mark Helfrich, Julia Wong; music, Fernando Velazquez; production designer, Jean-Vincent Puzos; supervising art director, Jason Knox-Johnston; senior art director, Robert Cowper; art directors Tom Still, Bence Erdelyi; set decorator, Tina Jones; costume designer, Jany Temime; sound (Datasat/Dolby Atmos), Mac Ruth; sound designers, Tim Chau, Clayton Weber; supervising sound editor, Tim Chau; re-recording mixers, Tim Chau, Chris Burdon; visual effects supervisor, John Bruno; visual effects producer/supervisor, Dean Wright; visual effects, Double Negative, Cinesite, Method Studios, Prime Focus World, Milk VFX, Utopia VFX, Nvizible, Halo, Perpetual Motion Pictures; special effects supervisor, Neil Corbould; supervising stunt coordinator, Greg Powell; stunt coordinator/fight coordinator, Allan Poppleton; associate producer, Hiram Garcia; assistant directors, Jeff Authors, Chris Carreras; second unit director/camera, Alexander Witt; casting, Amanda Mackey Johnson, Cathy Sandrich (U.S.), Lucinda Syson (U.K.).
With: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, John Hurt, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Reece Ritchie, Tobias Santelmann, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaac Andrews, Irina Shayk.

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Movie Review: Hercules (2014)

Aaron Leggo
Movie Reviews
6 responses
--> July 26, 2014

Hercules (2014) by The Critical Movie Critics

Walking the hero walk.

In the battle of the 2014 Hercules flicks, Brett Ratner’s sly little smash-em-up, Hercules clearly emerges the victor over Renny Harlin’s unintentionally hilarious blunder, “ The Legend of Hercules ” from earlier in the year. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s so much as glimpsed a shot from the cheapo origin pic or even just taken stock of Harlin’s sinking career lately, but what does come as a surprise is that hack extraordinaire Ratner has made something so delightfully refreshing in the narrative department. His Hercules , based on Steve Moore’s similarly titled comic book with a screenplay credited to Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos, marks a novel approach to the character, spinning a tale about the truth behind the legend and letting this revisionist angle sink into every corner of the story.

Having fun with the concept right from the start, Ratner’s Hercules gives us a sort of Cliff Notes version of the usual tale, with quick flashes of the snakes being strangled by the hero as a little boy and action shots of the beefy adult edition (a long-haired Dwayne Johnson) dispensing of several of his infamous twelve labors foes, including the impressively CGI’ed Erymanthian Boar and the Nemean Lion. It’s basically the trailer reel for a traditional Hercules movie all packed into a trailer-friendly couple minutes, giving off the sense that the movie is ready to wrap things up before most movies have even finished with the opening credits.

It’s all a ruse, of course, as we soon discover that we’re simply an audience for storyteller and Hercules relative Iolaus (Reece Ritchie), who is in a sticky situation with some nasty pirates and trying to get out the only way he knows how: By spinning an intimidating yarn. The pirates doubt the truth of Iolaus’ tale, but soon find themselves face-to-face with Hercules himself. When Johnson enters the scene, he’s wearing the supposed head of the Nemean Lion as a bit of battle garb, except this lion is a more realistically sized creature compared to the mammoth beast we saw Hercules grapple with a moment ago. The difference boils down to a playful gag, a wink that speaks to a cinematic fascination with hyperbole and also doubles as an amusing image, reminding us that this Hercules may be just a man, but he’s still crazy enough to wear a lion on his scalp.

This sense of pinpointing where the Hercules legend meets reality essentially becomes the movie, which is always more interesting as a commentary on mythological status than it ever is as a straightforward action romp complete with silly villains. The plot itself isn’t particularly novel, involving Hercules being employed by the withering King of Thrace, Lord Cotys (John Hurt) to mold his men into soldiers in hopes of putting an end to a brewing civil war. With the training of an army comes the dreaded training montage and Ratner doesn’t miss a beat here. It’s a low point of Hercules , though thankfully a brief and easily digestible one.

Ordinarily the king of mediocrity, Ratner dragging out such a tired device from his uninspired arsenal is to be expected, but the rest of Hercules finds the director sharper and more tuned in than usual. While the plot allows the movie to dash through an easy buildup/action/repeat pattern, it also cleverly contributes to the commentary on the myth versus the man. Johnson’s Hercules has worked hard alongside his band of merry mercenaries, including a comical seer (Ian McShane) who’s always awaiting his death and an exacting Amazonian archer (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) whose prowess on the battlefield is nearly unmatched, to support his larger-than-life reputation. It’s clear that the legend of our hero is no accident, so now that he’s surrounded by wide-eyed newbies looking to the pseudo-demi-god for guidance, Hercules has to be especially careful to hide the truth.

Everyone seems to be a skeptic in this group too, constantly questioning the legitimacy of various claims attributed to the legend. Just keeping the facade from crumbling is an uphill battle, but there’s great excitement in watching an experienced Hercules and his partners working the crowd at every turn. This is Hercules as the ultimate con man, a charming beefcake whose showmanship is as toned as his biceps. It’s a fun way to enliven the twist because it puts us in the shoes (or sandals) of both parties, allowing us to be wowed by the great feats and apparent indestructibility of the heroes one moment and then letting us in on a trick or a fib afterwards.

Battle crying.

So the plot rushes along in simplistic fashion, its main focus ensuring that Hercules and his pals always have a foe to face once the obligatory few minutes between action sequences runs out. Ratner keeps the pace quick and upbeat, handling the downtime and the set pieces with a consistent coolness that benefits from the cast chemistry and pretty locales that look lovely on the towering IMAX screen. This is also Ratner’s first movie to get the 3D treatment and while it’s a conversion (for comparative purposes Harlin’s take was shot in native 3D), the stereoscopic effect is fine enough, not always immersive, but not exactly distracting. A fitting result for a Ratner first, perhaps.

Action sequences are well handled here and since Ratner generally fared better than his American counterparts when it came to capturing Jackie Chan’s acrobatic movements in his Hollywood roles, it’s only fair to admit that competent action geography has probably never been Ratner’s problem. Blazingly loud and chaotic battles in his Hercules are generous to the senses and to the characters, giving each hero a chance to shine and really showcasing how they work as a team.

This Hercules has all of the pieces in place to make a rousing B-actioner, with its handsome lead, concise running time, and love of heroic clichés. But the sum is also a bit more than its parts would suggest, a smart little non-fantasy myth flick that provides glimpses of multiple mythological creatures before quickly debunking everything from centaurs to the multi-headed hydra. From start to finish, Ratner and everyone involved remain entirely committed to the commentary on myth-making and the intriguing ways that legend and reality can overlap. Like the hero of his pic, Ratner has spent most of his career as a sort of con artist himself, hocking his hackneyed products for Hollywood treasure. Hercules doesn’t exactly upgrade Ratner’s status, but at least this time, for once, he has something worthwhile to sell.

Tagged: comic book adaptation , god , king , warrior

You and I both know the truth. You just don't admit it.

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'Movie Review: Hercules (2014)' have 6 comments

July 26, 2014 @ 11:22 pm Shock McQueen

I want my Hercules to be a God among Men, not a shyster who relies on luck to complete his tasks.

July 27, 2014 @ 2:06 am ChallengeS

With its awful CGI this is a perfect film to compliment Sharknado on SyFy

July 27, 2014 @ 3:48 am TwoYaks

Well it least it isn’t a respin of Clash of the Titans with Hercules thrown into it. Still won’t see it though.

July 27, 2014 @ 8:31 am Lorenzo

The Rock makes me feel inadequate.

August 2, 2014 @ 6:48 am Reyon

I thought it was an interesting spin on a genre that has been beaten to death.

August 4, 2014 @ 4:00 am Ayush Chandra

I watched it, the characters and detailing is superb, but their is a big lack of a good climax and story ……

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Metacritic reviews

70 Variety Scott Foundas Variety Scott Foundas It’s a grandly staged, solidly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure movie that does something no other Hercules movie has quite done before: it cuts the mythical son of Zeus down to human size (or as human as you can get while still being played by Dwayne Johnson).
70 The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber It may sound like a backhanded compliment to praise this sometimes cheesy movie for never taking itself too seriously, but in a summer of bloated spectacles, this modesty should not be underestimated.
60 Empire Dan Jolin Empire Dan Jolin With Hercules, Brett Ratner and Dwayne Johnson are out to entertain you — no more, no less. And that is just what they do.
60 The Guardian Peter Bradshaw The Guardian Peter Bradshaw There are some rousing battle scenes, preceded by stirring addresses on the subject of going to Elysium – all cheekily borrowed from Ridley Scott's "Gladiator."
60 Total Film Jamie Graham Total Film Jamie Graham By the beard of Zeus! Brett Ratner delivers fast, fun thrills to score a sound victory over Renny Harlin’s laborious The Legend Of Hercules.
60 The Telegraph Tim Robey The Telegraph Tim Robey Sure, the film is crude, calorific and full of groanworthy half-jokes, but it holds together. It stacks up as an oafish pleasure for an undemanding summer – a rewriting of myths in scrawled crayon, with a nonchalant quality that makes its judiciously brief running time fly by.
40 Time Out London Tom Huddleston Time Out London Tom Huddleston Strap on your swordbelt, buckle your sandals and oil up your rippling six-pack, because here comes yet another interminable, CGI-drenched mythic mish-mash with far more money than brain cells.
38 McClatchy-Tribune News Service Roger Moore McClatchy-Tribune News Service Roger Moore For all the fun these folks could have had with Hercules maintaining the supernatural assistance facade, or denying it as his handlers gild his lily testifying that it’s true, the movie is content to just go through the motions.
33 The Playlist Gabe Toro The Playlist Gabe Toro It's mythmaking for dummies, a Hercules with no poetry, only incompetent brute strength.
20 TheWrap Inkoo Kang TheWrap Inkoo Kang It's a supernatural epic that never feels quite colossal or consequential enough, as well as an utter waste of Dwayne Johnson‘s unique dopey-flirty charm.
See all 25 reviews on Metacritic.com
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Hercules Movie Review & Film Summary (2014)
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COMMENTS

Hercules movie review & film summary (2014) - Roger Ebert
The movie is stolen by McShane’s oracle, who is the recipient of the aforementioned noble near-death scene, and Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), a warrior so scarred by violence that he is more animal than human. Tydeus’ backstory, which “Hercules” only hints at, is far more interesting than anything we’re following in the present.
Hercules - Rotten Tomatoes
Rated 1/5 Stars • Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/11/24 Full Review Carson P This is the second Hercules movie of 2014 and out of the two films released that year this one is the superior to that ...
Hercules - Rotten Tomatoes
Disney tackles Greek mythology in this animated feature. Hercules (Tate Donovan), a son of gods, was snatched as a baby by Hades (James Woods) and forced to live among mortals as a half-man, half-god.
Hercules (2014) - User reviews - IMDb
(58%) A movie that could have quite easily dipped into crap territory is saved by well directed and plentiful action, good production values, Mr Johnson being a perfect leading man, John hurt calling Hercules a "filthy bastard" and "Atalanta" (bow-girl) looking uncannily like Nicole Kidman from the early 90's.
‘Hercules’: Film Review - The Hollywood Reporter
Jul 24, 2014 · The film begins by recounting the legend of Hercules, with snippets of his famous 12 labors. But this is not the Steve Reeves version of the tale. Johnson’s Hercules (as envisioned by comic book ...
Hercules - Movie Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
Hercules Reviews - Metacritic
Jul 25, 2014 · Both man and myth, Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) leads a band of mercenaries to help end a bloody civil war in the land of Thrace and return the rightful king to his throne. A tormented soul from birth, Hercules has the strength of a God but feels the suffering of a human.
Film Review: ‘Hercules’ - Variety
Jul 24, 2014 · Film Review: ‘Hercules’ Reviewed at AMC Loews Lincoln Square, New York, July 23, 2014. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN. Production: A Paramount release presented with Metro-Goldwyn ...
Movie Review: Hercules (2014) - The Critical Movie Critics
In the battle of the 2014 Hercules flicks, Brett Ratner’s sly little smash-em-up, Hercules clearly emerges the victor over Renny Harlin’s unintentionally hilarious blunder, “The Legend of Hercules” from earlier in the year. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s so much as glimpsed a shot from the cheapo origin pic or even ...
Hercules (2014) - Metacritic reviews - IMDb
Sure, the film is crude, calorific and full of groanworthy half-jokes, but it holds together. It stacks up as an oafish pleasure for an undemanding summer – a rewriting of myths in scrawled crayon, with a nonchalant quality that makes its judiciously brief running time fly by.