Director: Brett Ratner
Writers: Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell and Joseph Fiennes
Studio: Paramount
“Hercules” was based on the Radical Comics series by Steve Moore. Steve Moore tried to present a grounded view of the demi-god that explored all aspects of his personality and sexuality from Greek Myth. Brett Ratner said screw that noise, I directed Rush Hour 2 and Red Dragon! The rest of the film is presented as Hercules spends his remaining years proving his worth while traveling the known world. A local woman pays him a ton of gold to fight some thugs and it’s not long before I’m looking at my watch. Way to limp to the end of the summer barn, Paramount.
Some viewers have complained of Bait & Switch with the film. You see Hercules complete the 12 Labors in the opening five minutes of the film, then the remaining 85 minutes are spent on another mercenary for hire tale. While recording the last two episodes of The Anderson Tapes, the issue kept coming up about Brett Ratner. Why do people hate him was what the kids kept asking? Honestly, it’s because of schlock like this. The guy is so-so at best, while most of his narrative feats are lacking at best. The material he produces is strong, but let’s not change horses mid-stream.
Ultimately, when you tackle myth…you run into a few problems. There’s a push to have forced humor, excessive violence and to try to teach kids a bit of history. Ultimately, what we get is a hodge podge of influence that turns into a sullied brown mess that belongs in the bathroom and not on the big screen. Poor Dwayne Johnson deserves better and hopefully he gets it soon from DC/WB. Until then, let’s hope that Fast 7 does something for him.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!