Hercules (2014)

Directed by: Brett Rattner
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Hercules” was never substantial enough with its Greek mythological story. Filmmaker Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”, “The Red Dragon”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”), whose action executions are commonly showy and made to impress the eye, forgot once again to create an intriguing mood, while the screenwriters should have added some smartness to increase the viewers’ interest. There’s nothing different here from the usual approach adopted for this kind of adventure. I’ve seen this so many times before that my indifference along the way increased substantially as the film approaches to its farcical end. Half human, half God, Hercules, son of Zeus, rushes to aid the king of Thrace and his daughter, in a battle against the forces of evil commanded by Rhesus. Reuniting his group of mercenaries, which includes among others, his storyteller nephew Iolaus, a childhood friend Autolycus who is an expert in knife-throwing, and the agile archer Atalanta, we are presented with interminable body combats, furious roars, and a sense of humor that feels more stupid than witty. Dwayne Johnson, despite the enviable muscles, seemed stuck in the disorganized, endless battles. With so much chaos and disorder and a plot that doesn’t help, “Hercules” ended up being an inefficient blockbuster, becoming one of this year’s most unexciting, staged, and inarticulate exercise on the genre. Maybe Ratner thinks his filmmaking style is much spectacular but the whole thing is just a huge fakeness, completely unable to cause positive reactions.