Cast: Dwayne Johnson, John Hurt, Ian Shane, Rebecca Ferguson, Ingird Bolsø Berdal, Rufus Sewell,Aksel Hennie
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Genre: Action, Adventure
Duration: 98 minutes
Showing at: Cinema Magic, Metroplex Mall Naalya
A man fighting giant lions and wolves with his bare hands … or throwing a horse like it is a little rock, all with what appears to be very little effort. Now that’s a man with strength of herculean proportions. Bad pun, I know, but it can’t be helped when it is Hercules we are talking about. His strength is legendary.
Portrayed by Dwayne Johnson, whose muscle as the Rock is also popular albeit in the wrestling ring, Hercules follows the life of the mythical demigod in the book, Hercules: The Thracian Wars. However, instead of a mythical Hercules, Johnson plays a Hercules who haunted by his past, can’t seem to decide whether he is a mercenary or a hero.
Although he lived an honest life in the past, he now lives the life of a mercenary with his friends who include his nephew, a seer, an Amazon archer, a thief and a warrior. The group is hired by Ergenia to train her father, Lord Cotys’ army against a ruthless warlord. Hercules, however notices something odd after they train the army and even lead them to battle against the barbarians, and intervenes.
When another movie based on Hercules, The Legend of Hercules was released earlier this year, it was not well-received, with good reason. It was boring. So there were very low hopes for Brett Ratner’s Hercules. However, the movie has won over many audiences and critics with its action packed scenes –the kind fans of movies like 300 would enjoy. It also helps that the Rock has the muscle to carry this movie not just by attracting his fan base from wrestling but also portraying a believable man of strength. The movie’s weakness, however, is that its plot is not as exciting, so much so that one Hollywood critic advises that you “leave your thinking caps at home” if you want to enjoy the movie.
