Hercules (2014)

Director: Brett Ratner

Writers: Ryan Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos, Steve Moore

Composer: Fernando Velazquez

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Reece Ritchie, Joseph Fiennes, Tobias Santelmann, Peter Mullan, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaac Andrews, Joe Anderson, Stephen Peacocke, Nicholas Moss

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Before he was a legend, he was a man.

Plot:  Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Uhhhhhh, I think so?

Is the comic better?  I sure hope so.  I don't have a problem at all with the revisionist turn at the Greek Mythological figure.  Really.  It's the often poor direction, dialogue and acting that I've got an issue with.  I was looking forward to seeing Johnson as Hercules.  I thought he'd be great. He's good but not what I hoped for.  Hell, in this picture he felt like he'd be better suited to play Conan.  By the way, there's a reason he wears that breast plate.  In the one scene he takes it off you can see that he's not nearly as fit as the plate suggests.  That's no slam on him; he's still in amazing shape.  And have you ever seen abs that go up to just below one's chin?  One thing about this picture is how many scenes look like they could have used another take or two for practice.  The editing is weak in spots which changes the flow of dialogue, sometimes adding the jokes too quickly.  The big battle before Hercules finds out the truth is pretty fucking great.  And the best part of the flick for my money was Ian McShane.  He's hilarious and I love what they did with his character and his prophecies.  John Hurt also does a remarkable job.   I'm guessing there'll be an extended cut on Blu-ray and someday I might give it another look.  I am disappointed this picture wasn't better.  If Johnson comes back for another picture as Hercules, I'll see it.