The Legend of Hercules (Cinema Screening)

(Spoilers)

The first of two Hercules movies set for release this year sees Kellan Lutz take up the role of Hercules whilst the Rock will do so later in 2014. It was impossible to avoid all the hate that this film has received and I attempted to see this movie a couple of times before I finally managed it last night, it almost felt like I wasn’t meant to see it however I prevailed last night and I can say that I am glad I got to see it in the end!

Now of course I was going in with incredibly low expectations due to the criticism that I had seen but as the film began to unfold I couldn’t help but think that it was going to be as bad as people have made out. The film begins with several sequences that feature really awful graphics, I will admit that I am not very knowledgeable about special effects but these were the worst I had seen in a good while. This problem was particularly evident at the beginning of the film, things did get better as the story carried on however there were still other moments throughout where these effects were not up to scratch. This contributed to another issue in the film, on many occasions I was just left so unconvinced to the reality of the story and I was so aware that I was watching a movie, I couldn’t get lost in the story.  This was a result of many factors including, poor acting at times a weak script and then on top of this the poor graphics at points really emphasized this problem.  The story wasn’t really that interesting and it turned out to be more of a love story than anything else, there were attempts to expand on this but the love theme came through the strongest offering the viewer little to stimulate their minds while watching.

That is most of the bad, and yeah it wasn’t great but somehow I actually still managed to really enjoy the film.  Most of the fight scenes were actually pretty cool and the highlight of the movie was easily the scene in which Hercules takes on the 6 undefeated warriors of Greece. This scene as well as the others was well choreographed and unlike the 300 films got the right balance between slow-motion and normal paced action creating some really exciting sequences. However in the scene previous there were some questionable looking foes for Hercules that really just degraded the film as them seemed quite silly which was a shame. Kellan Lutz did do a good job as Hercules and his strength did lie in the physical scenes and when he was commanding troops, so I think it is fair to say that he has contributed a solid performance here. Not so much can be said for the supporting cast however I would have to say there was a surprisingly good performance from Roxanne McKee who plays Hercules mother, I wasn’t expecting this but I would say that she was the most convincing and consistent of the whole cast.

BIGGEST FLAW – The terrible graphics

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Some pretty cool fight scenes

The Legend of Hercules will be quickly forgotten and I can understand why it has received all the poor reviews as there is a lot wrong with this film, however there is a certain charm about the whole thing and I was still able to enjoy the movie.  Despite flaws such as characters not aging at all over a 20 year period and a confused ending! If you go in with no expectations you may enjoy it, it isn’t that great of a movie but there is fun to be had with it!

Rating – 6/10