The Legend of Hercules2014 - January 10
Action | Adventure
1 hr. 38 min.
Rated: PG-13 Violence, Some Sensuality and Intense Combat Action. Common Sense Media says Pause for kids 13 & under. Read more
Grade: C-
Director: Renny HarlinWriters: Sean Hood, Daniel Giat, Renny Harlin, Giulio Steve
Stars: Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins | See full cast and crew
In the epic origin story THE LEGEND OF HERCULES,
Kellan Lutz stars as the mythical Greek hero – the son of Zeus, a
half-god, half-man blessed with extraordinary strength. Betrayed by his
stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a
forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way
back to his rightful kingdom. Through harrowing battles and
gladiator-arena death matches, Hercules embarks on a legendary odyssey
to overthrow the King and restore peace to the land.
Another sword and sandals melodrama. Visually compelling buy not much content.
In ancient Greek theater they held competitions where all the playwrights staged plays on the same subject. Everyone already knew the story and how it ended the only difference was the route the playwright took to get to the well known end. Some became classics still performed today, but you have to suspect there were some that were a far cry from classic. This film's telling is one of those forgettable entries. It's not a really truly awful movie but there's nothing noteworthy either.
Remarkably, Kellan Lutz' acting as Hercules is not the worst of the cast, although he doesn't do himself any favors when he opens his mouth either. Scott Adkins as King Amphitryon and Liam Garrigan as Iphiclies are guilty of some classic 'bad guy' over acting. Finish director Renny Harlin has rounded up a support team that has done a admirable job.
The sets, costumes and CGI panoramas are quite respectable. Unfortunately, the story and dialogue is not. I saw the 3-D version, I don't think it added that much to the experience and the fast then slow movements during the warrior fight sequences (popularized by Zack Snyder) became distracting and tedious.
The Legend of Hercules is a straight-forward retelling of origins of Hercules and how he became the legend that he was.
The story starts before Hercules is born with the showdown in Argos
between King Amphitryon and the champion from the city he's invading,
after a brief and decisive battle, Amphitryon is victorious. Fast forward a couple of decades and we find Queen Alcmene, his unsatisfied
wife, turning to the Gods to avenge her forced, unwanted, miserable marriage. Hera promises her a son to be born by the Gods. The Queen's gift from the Gods, however, infuriates King Amphitryon, and in time fuels Hercules' competitive brother Iphicles to cruel and vindictive jealousy.
As he matures Hercules (Lutz) cuts a strapping figure of a man, who spends his time frolicking with Hebe, the fetching Princess of
Crete, usually without his shirt in order to impress and entice her. The jealous Iphicles, true heir to the
throne, has his own designs on Hebe and conspires to take Hercules out of the
picture by getting the King to send Hercules of to war and almost certain death in Egypt. Well, you can figure out how it all ends. But at some point you begin to feel like you're watching
something seen before.
If you were to take a screen capture at any point in the film you'd be hard pressed to distinguish it from 300, The Immortals, Gladiator, Pompeii, Clash of the Titans, Troy or any number of recent and not so recent sword and sandal 'epics'.
If gladiator/sword and sandal costume sagas are your thing, Hercules is little more than a guilty pleasure. Although it's based on a classic, a classic it's not. At least it's not laced with gratuitous sex, nudity or profanities, so it is a movie that you can take the family to see.
In ancient Greek theater they held competitions where all the playwrights staged plays on the same subject. Everyone already knew the story and how it ended the only difference was the route the playwright took to get to the well known end. Some became classics still performed today, but you have to suspect there were some that were a far cry from classic. This film's telling is one of those forgettable entries. It's not a really truly awful movie but there's nothing noteworthy either.Remarkably, Kellan Lutz' acting as Hercules is not the worst of the cast, although he doesn't do himself any favors when he opens his mouth either. Scott Adkins as King Amphitryon and Liam Garrigan as Iphiclies are guilty of some classic 'bad guy' over acting. Finish director Renny Harlin has rounded up a support team that has done a admirable job. The sets, costumes and CGI panoramas are quite respectable. Unfortunately, the story and dialogue is not. I saw the 3-D version, I don't think it added that much to the experience and the fast then slow movements during the warrior fight sequences (popularized by Zack Snyder) became distracting and tedious.The Legend of Hercules is a straight-forward retelling of origins of Hercules and how he became the legend that he was.
The story starts before Hercules is born with the showdown in Argos
between King Amphitryon and the champion from the city he's invading,
after a brief and decisive battle, Amphitryon is victorious. Fast forward a couple of decades and we find Queen Alcmene, his unsatisfied
wife, turning to the Gods to avenge her forced, unwanted, miserable marriage. Hera promises her a son to be born by the Gods. The Queen's gift from the Gods, however, infuriates King Amphitryon, and in time fuels Hercules' competitive brother Iphicles to cruel and vindictive jealousy. As he matures Hercules (Lutz) cuts a strapping figure of a man, who spends his time frolicking with Hebe, the fetching Princess of
Crete, usually without his shirt in order to impress and entice her. The jealous Iphicles, true heir to the
throne, has his own designs on Hebe and conspires to take Hercules out of the
picture by getting the King to send Hercules of to war and almost certain death in Egypt. Well, you can figure out how it all ends. But at some point you begin to feel like you're watching
something seen before.If you were to take a screen capture at any point in the film you'd be hard pressed to distinguish it from 300, The Immortals, Gladiator, Pompeii, Clash of the Titans, Troy or any number of recent and not so recent sword and sandal 'epics'.If gladiator/sword and sandal costume sagas are your thing, Hercules is little more than a guilty pleasure. Although it's based on a classic, a classic it's not. At least it's not laced with gratuitous sex, nudity or profanities, so it is a movie that you can take the family to see.
Cast
Hercules Hebe
King Amphitryon Queen Alcmene Iphicles
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