Review of Hercules (2014) by Daniel L — 26 Jul 2014

This movie had a hard time grabbing me. The myth of Hercules is a neat enough premise to carry a film, and the story was (reasonably) well-adapated to the screen. However, there are few standouts to make this memorable.

We get to see a nice progression of Hercules' story: from baby who fell from the heavens, to a teenager who learns who he is, to an adult who struggles to find his place in the world. It is well-introduced by "Go the Distance," the only memorable song in the film. The gods are somewhat belittled for most of the film (with one exception), but the mortals are well fleshed-out.

The standouts among the voice cast were Danny DeVito as the satyr Phil, James Woods as Hades (who got more screen time than all the other gods, and used it well), and a surprisingly great performance by Susan Egan as Meg. She really kept her sarcastic edge, and provided an excellent foil to both Hades and Hercules.

Despite the movie's strong points, there were some poor choices. They changed the source material a fair bit, and really glossed through the Twelve Labours (which, to be fair, would make an awfully tedious Disney film). The biggest crime was the use of gospel-style music in the narrative sections. It clashed awkwardly with the rest of the film, and was a big distraction for me.

The movie has its flaws, and so ranks around the middle of the Disney pack. It has roughly equal parts good, bad, and meh.