Review of The Legend of Hercules (2014) by Derek F — 17 Jan 2014

This was an interesting movie but it felt like it was a movie where it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. It felt like the writers spent too much time drinking Red Bull, watching Gladiator on repeat and playing the video game God of War. There really wasn't an overall theme and I feel the movie suffered. It was trying to be about FREEDOM ('murica) and then you had the FAITH element and then there was the REVENGE element plus the doing it all for LOVE! None of these themes were developed particularly well and just felt scattered.

The acting in this movie wasn't really that bad, all things considered. You have Kellan Lutz playing Hercules whose sole job in the movie was to stand there flex his mighty pectorals and grunt. He did well, truly an excellent job of showing his acting chops. Ladies a little eye candy for you if you like that thing. Scott Adkins was probably the stand out performance as King Amphitryon but that was in the first five minutes; it went downhill from there. Liam Garrigan, who played the eldest son of the king, was channeling Joaquim Phoenix from Gladiator. He had the crazy eyes down but was lacking the same intensity and never felt as creepy. I noticed that the story often felt disconnected and the characters weren't given enough time to develop and their motivations often felt confusing.

The thing I did like about this movie was the hint of supernatural elements. I would have liked it if there were more of it. I must admit I was bummed that they made the story of Hercules an EPIC war movie instead of a movie about a man trying to become something more through select tasks. I think a fun Hercules movie with a plucky sidekick and a lighter tone with more humor was the movie I wanted. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a TV show like what I described that was fun, corny and a good sense of adventure? Oh you know, there IS a TV show like that. Personally I say you should go watch reruns of the TV show and skip this movie.

Verdict: Found Wanting.