DVD review: Hercules
What keeps you hooked is the rich earthy textures of the frames and the impressive production values.
Reviewer: Ischke de Jager
Movie: Hercules
Genre: Action, Adventure
Director Brett Ratner’s Hercules, the son of Zeus, is a revisionist take on the classic myth and based on Radical Comics’ Hercules: The Thracian Wars by Steve Moore.
The film begins by asking the audience, “Do you know anything about the son of Zeus?”
It then goes on to explain the myth of the demi-god Hercules and how he overcame the 12 dangerous missions before being accepted as a legend.
All this is narrated through a montage that forms a sort of a prologue to the tale.
The narration then shifts to the Macedonian Coast of Thrace, where we encounter Hercules, who isn’t the son of Zeus, but a mercenary orphan albeit a selfless one, who over the years has engineered his reputation as a demi-god, allowing him to make good of the image he has created of himself.
He is there to drive away the pirates who have infested the coast.
Along with him are a loyal band of warriors, and one storyteller.
Soon, Hercules and his group are coaxed by Ergenia, the daughter of Lord Cotys, to fight in a civil war to combat a rebel army, led by Rheseus, who has nearly destroyed the land of Thrace.
In effect, Hercules becomes the general in charge of the army defending Thrace.
Midway through the film, you realize that the premise of the story has a strong resemblance to the iconic Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai.
There is also a substantial emphasis on the eternal debate over destiny versus self-determination, and the belief that people need a hero or someone to look up to.
