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Hercules

  • Film
Hercules
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Time Out says

Strap on your swordbelt, buckle your sandals and oil up your rippling six-pack, because here comes yet another interminable, CGI-drenched mythic mish-mash with far more money than brain cells. Dwayne Johnson (we’re no longer allowed to call him The Rock) plays the title character who – in this loose adaptation of Steve Moore’s comic book series – is a mercenary warrior who uses inflated tales of his divine parentage and epic labours to psych out his enemies. Hired – along with a ragtag band of sidekicks who include a seer (Ian McShane), a wisecracking archer (Rufus Sewell) and a Swedish ninja with dreadlocks (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) – to defend the kingdom of Thrace against a mysterious enemy, Hercules soon finds his past coming back to haunt him in the form of Joseph Fiennes sporting a worrying blond mullet.

Given that its director is the widely derided Brett Ratner (‘Rush Hour’, ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’), it’s no great surprise that ‘Hercules’ is a complete mess: the plot barely hangs together, the characters are meagrely sketched and the 3D digital effects are plasticky, indistinct and wearying to look at. The script contains a handful of decent comic asides and there’s one great mid-battle moment where Herc throws a horse, but on the whole this is decidedly non-legendary.

Written by Tom Huddleston

Release Details

  • Release date:Friday 25 July 2014

Cast and crew

  • Director:Brett Ratner
  • Screenwriter:Ryan Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos
  • Cast:
    • Dwayne Johnson
    • Irina Shayk
    • John Hurt
    • Ian McShane
    • Rufus Sewell
    • Joseph Fiennes
    • Ingrid Bolsø Berdal
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