Thankfully, Hercules is not an origin film. Though it is about the titular hero from Greek myth, The Legend of Hercules (2014) from earlier this year already took that approach so it is just as well. Here, the fabled strong-man (Dwayne Johnson) has already performed all but one of his legendary labors when the story opens.
Hercules, the Son of Zeus, is a relatively content family man at the film’s start. His famous labors are largely complete and he has a wife, Megara (Irian Shayk), and three children to occupy his time. His close companions are Amphiaraus (Ian McShane) a seer, Autolycus a childhood friend/Athenian army buddy, Tydeus (Aksel Hennie) a barbarous silent warrior, Atalanta (Ingrid Berdal) a former Amazon, and Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) the nephew of Hercules.
Then, one dreadful evening, Hercules loses everything. His family is ripped away from him and he is powerless to stop it. In fact he cannot fully recall what happened. He is found with their bloodied, violated corpses in a senseless state – grieving. He and his friends are driven from Athens as the populace that once so loved Hercules, now fears and reviles him as they suspect him of causing the tragic death of his own family. The local leadership, King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes) in particular, does not seem genuinely sad to see Hercules leave.
Hercules and his band become mercenaries become known for performing spectacular deeds. This is partly because Hercules is just that great a warrior and partly because the job that Iolaus assumes within the group is master-storyteller. Basically a PR pimp for their band of brothers. This is a rather comical approach to story and fits the tone of the film. Each friend of Hercules has a specialty. The Amazon has her bow. Autolycus has his knives and so on. It is all rather reminiscent of The Magnificent Seven (1960).
Out adventuring in the world, ever-haunted by his deep loss, Hercules and his companions are sought out by Lord Cotys (John Hurt) the Regent of Thrace. Lord Cotys explains he and his country are being savaged by Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann) and his mighty army. He must be stopped so that Thrace can be saved for the new king to be crowned. The lord’s daughter, Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) has a son. He is the six-year-old heir – Arius (Isaac Andrews). So, Hercules begrudgingly offers to take on the task. It means he must train the locals to build an army that will face a superior force. Meanwhile, the general of the Thracian army, Sitacles (Peter Mullan), is not happy with the specialists but has to live with them by virtue of the wishes of Lord Cotys. An expected but oddly endearing army training montage scene then follows.
The film takes only a semi-serious approach to “legends” and much more genuine take on fighting for what is right and fighting for the soldier standing next to you. Hercules loses his family and then gains a surrogate one during the course of the film.
The script is genius in one respect only. It is not an origin story. The hero is fully developed and knows who he is. That is sort of enough in this respect – yes this is a plotting mish-mash from previous action films – but it works because it is a tried and true formula that is wholly dependent on the charisma of the cast. Lee Marvin and his group had that charisma in The Dirty Dozen (1969). Sylvester Stallone is “expending” the same type of energy for the third time later this summer. Here, this is all about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson owning the film with some violent and acerbic friends.
Thankfully, Ratner steps out of the way in this film and lets the action flow. Hercules has all the big set pieces you could ever want but they are presented in a logical way with compelling, if predictable, reasons for the conflicts. The like ability of the cast saves the day here. Hercules is an old hero. But Johnson makes him far more enjoyable than past strong-men.
Steven Gahm
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