Film Review: Hercules (2014)

The story of Hercules has been done and redone til it hurts, and yet I still bought this new film and had a watch of it. I think no matter what, the Disney version will always win hands down in my book. This movie made a brave attempt though.

The Good:

• A realistic take on a classic story.
• Some good names: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, John Hurt, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan.
• One absolutely inspired character; Tydeus, a savage killer who never speaks a word, but is reptty brutal and actually quite funny at times. He is also extremely brave, and I could not get over some of his actions.
• Interesting greek mythology origin story which stays true to the original story of how he killed his wife and children after going mad.
• Loads of action.
• A nice twist in the plot that you don't completely expect.
• Includes Atalanta, who is easily the best human female character in greek mythology. Two thumbs way,way up.

The Bad:

• Fair CGI, but didn't really make too much use of the 12 labours to help the story along.
• Some of the casting, specifically that of Dwayne Johnson is a bit dubious. He carries off the look and strength of the character, and does show some levels of character, but for me he was a bit flat. He is almost convincing.
• On the character point, I can't say that I cared at all for the characters. None of them was very relatable, and many were one-dimensional. I didn't even care about the kid, seriously.
• The plot is fairly boring and not terribly memorable. In fact, you really remember the fighting rather than anything else.

Overall:
A good ending which satisfies, but probably not something I am likely to watch again. It is really best for men who like action films and realism.

Kyra_x