Movie review: Hercules

Playing the lead in Hercules allows him ample opportunities to flex those well-oiled muscles and show off some sly self-awareness.

Brett Ratner’s action-driven adventure yarn is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars by Steve Moore and Admira Wijaya, and manages to capture its essence with electrifying computer-generated special effects. It’s crammed with well-choreographed battle sequences and high drama. The characters are given more definition than your average comic book heroes, which is not saying much, but it helps to drive the story.

The production opens with Hercules being tested by the legendary Twelve Labours, after which we learn he has opted to become a mercenary who is prepared to fight for gold. He is backed in his endeavours by a motley crew of fighters, comprising the spear-wielding prophet Amphiaraus (McShane), the knife-throwing thief Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), the feral warrior Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), the Amazon archer Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and his nephew, storyteller Iolaus (Reece Ritchie).

Picture: Supplied

Hercules is contrite after being betrayed by Hera, has rejected his father Zeus and chosen to live as a mortal who is continually tormented by visions of Cerberus. Hera drove him insane, causing him to murder his wife Megara (Irina Shayk) and their children during a visit to King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes). But Hercules is nevertheless a great soldier and tactician and his services are soon required by the devious Lord Cotys (John Hurt). He wants Hercules to train the armies of Thrace to defend the kingdom from warlord Rheseus (Tobias Santelmann).

Hercules is happy because he and his men are offered his own weight in gold as payment. That’s the start of a series of unrelenting battle scenes that could easily have been pruned without losing effect.

With a reliable contingent of British stars of the calibre of John Hurt, Ian McShane, Peter Mullan and Rufus Sewell with the mesmerising Johnson, this version of Hercules remains an old-fashioned yarn where Hercules, for the first time, is truly cut down to mortal proportions.