THE LEGEND OF HERCULES

This movie is a so-called ‘origin story’ about the Greek demigod but it disconnects itself from the source material. The mythology and fantasy of Hercules’ life is replaced by melodramatic realism. The complex character of Hercules is whittled down to a love obsessed man-child. The dialogue is strewn with cheesy one-liners and run of the mill ‘epic movie jargon.’ Kellan Lutz from the Twilight movies plays the title role and gives one of the worst performances I have seen in the recent past. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s portrayal as Hercules in Hercules in New York (1969) was better. In fact, the acting of the wooded Trojan horse in Troy (2004) was better than Lutz. Clearly bad actors with beefed-up bodies can still get lead roles in Hollywood. The special effects are equally amateurish; vis-à-vis the cartoonish lion that looks like a cousin of Mufasa from The Lion King (1994). The worst part about this movie is that it’s a shameless mishmash of scenes from other movies. Hercules’ capture, sale and conscripted fighting for sport are the identical plot points in Gladiator (2000). The use of super slow-motion during the battle scenes is reminiscent of 300 (2006). The screenwriters also didn’t forget to include a motivational pre-battle speech by the hero which is an imitation of Braveheart (1995). What in the world happened to director Renny Harlin? The man who gave us Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993) and Deep Blue Sea (1999) seems to have creatively fizzled during the last fourteen years. His direction of The Legend of Hercules is more appropriate if it were a made-for-television-movie. It lacks quality, originality and above all cinematic vision. Harlin as co-writer, co-producer and director has turned a legendary character into an inconsequential brute.

Rating: 1/10

S. V. Fernando