HERCULES Review

Twelve years ago the Rock "arrived" with The Scorpion King in full swords and sandals glory. In the summer of 2014 he has returned to that well-worn genre that has lost much of the interest that Gladiator garnered for it in 2000. If anyone could bring films based in this type of world or adaptations of the stories in Greek mythology back into the casual movie-goers field of vision it would surely be the reigning king of action flicks, right? Over the past three years Dwayne Johnson has re-vitalized the Fast & Furious and G.I. Joe franchises while bringing new life to the Journey To... movies. In many ways, Hercules, was the test of just what Johnson could attract and handle on his own with only the significance of brand recognition assisting him. Sure, he's had flicks like Snitch and Faster that cast him as the sole marquee star, but this was an all-out Summer B-movie with a big budget, sprawling scope and, as the trailers would have you believe, large amounts of CGI fantasy. While I am happy to report that Hercules is both varied in scope and is quite expansive while offering genuine thrills it isn't the CGI-heavy bonanza of easy-outs that the trailers advertised and made me cautious in getting too excited for the film. About twenty minutes into the movie I began wondering whether the film would add up to anything more than escapism or if there might be something here, something deeper they were going for. I say the previous sentence not in the line of thought that I think everything necessarily has to be about something, but more in a curious fashion as to if director Brett Ratner would aspire to something more than what was expected. It was with something akin to a sigh of relief that when the credits began to role on this latest incarnation of the Greek demi-God that I felt wholly satisfied. Maybe expectations play a certain role in that, maybe this movie won't hold up after multiple viewings, maybe Johnson needs to stick to strong supporting roles that don't require so much heavy lifting and maybe Ratner shouldn't get the opportunity to do anything outside this wheelhouse again, but for what it is intended to be Hercules is good, if not forgettable, fun.

First Trailer for HERCULES

I've never been one to join in on the hate-train that seems to follow director Brett Ratner around every turn he takes with each film (I liked Tower Heist well enough and X3 was never as bad as people claimed). That said, I expected a certain something from his Hercules epic starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the titular Greek God. The stills Johnson released via his twitter and other social media outlets throughout production are not justified by this first trailer as it looks much more in the vein of something like The Scorpion King than the Chris Nolan version of mythology (which is kind of what I anticipated). The over-abundance of CGI is never a good sign and it looks especially in bad judgement here given that every other shot is Hercules facing another computer generated monster while voiceover builds up to what may as well be just another reason for people to make fun of and doubt the credibility of this movie as a good or even fun product. I'd like to believe Ratner has done something interesting given the source material he is drawing from, but as far as first impressions go, this is not a promising one. All of that being said, The Rock has proved himself a valuable commodity over the past few years being able to breathe new life into dwindling franchises (Fast & Furious, Journey to..., GI Joe) and starring in interesting flicks like Pain & Gain, Snitch and Faster none of which ever seemed to get the credit they were due for what they represented, but all of which I enjoyed more than I probably should have. The point being he could very well bring something unexpected to this new telling of a story we've all heard, read and seen before so I go forward with a sense of cautious optimism, though I won't be surprised if I'm let down. Hercules also stars John Hurt, Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, Rufus Sewell, Robert Maillet, Irina Shayk and opens in 3D on July 25th.