Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
With The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) as Hercules you’d think a solid action flick would be guaranteed, right? Well, I did too. After that atrocious other film earlier this year starring Kellan Lutz, The Legend of Hercules, the only way to go was up. Way, way up. But unfortunately though the budget was improved here, the film wasn’t as enjoyable as I was hoping for. It had better goodwill going into it too which makes it even more of a let down.
I was expecting a supernatural element to this story. It’s what we’ve been used to. But they took a more realistic approach so while it was different, it took some of the fun out of it for me. Unlike the The Legend of Hercules, we do at least get more of the character’s back story as it pertains to his wife and children. If you didn’t know about the history behind that then this revelation would be surprising. I thought it was a little refreshing to take the story there considering how dark it is.
While the film doesn’t have a long run time, it honestly felt slow to me at times. There wasn’t as much action as I was expecting, especially when it comes to a film with such a prominent action star. The few we get are entertaining enough, but I knew I wasn’t going into this for an Oscar-worthy story so more of those would have been welcome as long as they were well-done. I think the PG-13 rating killed it a bit too because they had to hold back on the level of violence and language. Starz’s Spartacus has totally ruined me forever and I make no apologies.
I didn’t find any of the side characters particularly likable or noteworthy which is a bit of a bummer because often enough those types of characters make a film for me. I guess if I had to choose one it would be the female among his band of merry-men, Atalanta (no, it’s not Atlanta) simply because she did a good job of hanging with the boys. Also the actress, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, constantly reminded me of Nicole Kidman. Don’t believe me? Then check this out.
While I do enjoy most of The Rock’s films, I don’t think this was his best. It’s certainly no Fast and Furious where he can play off an ensemble cast with fantastic chemistry. The potential was there but it didn’t quite reach it for me. If you’re a big fan of The Rock then you should see this to judge for yourself, but I wouldn’t bother doing it in the theatres. It can wait for Netflix for sure.