Hercules
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane
Directed by Brett Ratner
Former wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson can certainly elevate a mediocre film but even his beefy, brawny charisma can’t save Hercules from its inevitable fate as a forgettable sword and sandal romp.
Director Brett Ratner keeps the pace running smoothly and the adventure is stocked with credible actors like Ian McShane, John Hurt and Rufus Sewell yet the whole experience is a jumbled, tonal mess and at times just plain generic.
To call Hercules soulless would be unfair but it’s hard to ignore such blandness in a potential franchise starter. The story, based on the Radical Comics' line by Steve Moore, is simple – Johnson dons the loincloth as the titular demigod, now a mercenary for hire, who helps the King of Thrace and his daughter defeat a warlord.
The band of sidekicks is fun to watch, including Norwegian character actor Aksel Hennie as a mute yet fearsome fighter.
Sadly though, despite the relatively short runtime, the rest of Hercules limps along without much originality. One of the other glaring issues is the erratic tone as the film constantly shifts from camera-winking self-awareness to ‘by the book’ historical treatment.
The elaborate fantasy sequences, involving some impressive CGI creatures, exist in dream sequences or tales told by Hercules’ PR man Iolaus and suggest the divine hero was more mortal than classic mythology states. It’s an unfortunate decision that deflates any sense of wonder from the flick. The revisionist direction of Hercules is ultimately its downfall; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
