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‘Hercules': The Man, The Myth, The Legend

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Hercules

Jay Snook says “This film about more than a legend. It’s about a man.”

This is a pretty good film. Hercules came out Friday July 25th, and it is rated Pg-13. It is not a film for kids because of the excessive violence, but interestingly enough has very little bad language in it. The film begins with a narration of the story of Hercules. He was born as a demi-god, his mother was human and Zeus being his father. This was something that Hera hated. So as a small child she sent two snakes to kill him, but with his bare hands he killed them both thanks to the strength he inherited from his father. We are also told of the trials he had to endure to win the favor of the gods back and to get Hera to leave him alone.

We see Hercules fight a giant lion, kill a giant boar and also have a brutal fight with the hydra. In each short scene he is victorious, and he is even wearing a pelt from the lion he killed. The story also follows the myth that one day many years ago Hercules went mad and killed his wife Megara and their children, something he has never forgiven himself for. Since that day, he has had terrible nightmares of Cerberus, and he doesn’t know why. He chooses to live out his days now as a mortal and as a mercenary for hire.

He has a band of people with him composed of Atalanta an archer, Amphiaraus  the prophet, Autolycus a thief, Tydeus who is a warrior, and Iolaus who is a storyteller and the nephew of Hercules. They all come together one day when they are offered a job from Lord Cotys, who is tired of his lands being ravaged to pieces by the warlord Rheseus. Cotys wants Hercules to train the army of Thrace to end the bloodshed from this horrible war. Once this task is finished, the army and Hercules along with his team go to fight barbarians to test the new army out, and the foes are defeated. Once this task is complete and Hercules and his team are paid, something doesn’t seem right to him so he decides to stay. He finds out Rheseus wasn’t the bad guy. Hercules finds out Cotys wants to expand his empire at all costs, and won’t let anyone get in his way. How can Hercules stop this from happening? Is Cotys working alone or does he have an ally? And will the nightmares Hercules is having each night ever go away?

Dwayne Johnson plays a very good Hercules. He is not only built physically for this role, but he does a very good job of keeping the character grounded, not once does he deal with the gods. John Hurt does a great job as Lord Cotys, he plays both sides very well, and it is amazing how natural the change is for him. Once he goes bad, it is easy to hate him and to see him as a monster. Rufus Sewell does a great job as Autolycus, a character who seems to care only about himself. But as the character develops throughout the film, the viewer gets to see that he has a big heart and cares greatly for Hercules. It is definitely not the type of Hercules story I thought it would be. Instead of Hercules the demi-god, this film shows the viewer Hercules the man. This portrayal doesn’t show much god-like strength or deeds, until the near end of the film, after he yells the line ” I Am Hercules!!!!” Once that happens, there doesn’t seem to be anything he cannot do. Whether it is fighting an army or escaping from jail, that is when the film was defined for me.

This film did pretty good in theaters this weekend. It got the #2 spot and $29 million in the US alone. It got okay reviews from critics, but audiences were eager enough to pay to see it. If you are a fan of Dwayne Johnson, you should go see this movie. It is definitely a different role for him, and it is nice to see a change like that sometimes. If you want to see a film with some great action and an original plot, go see this film. It is a fun summer film, and worth paying a the price of a ticket.

The post ‘Hercules': The Man, The Myth, The Legend appeared first on The Good Men Project.


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