HERCULES

I saw HERCULES! Now, this new sword and sandal film might as well be a sequel to Scorpion King because it's pretty much the exact same movie. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Hercules in this movie and unlike a lot of other films, this version is more of a man than demi-god with the legend of his exploits far exceeding his reality. With his team of mercenaries, which includes Ian McShane, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, and Rufus Sewell, he travels the world in search of gold and glory. However, Hercules' true metal has yet to be tested as he fights against a new enemy which holds mysteries of his past. Now that's all I can tell you without giving anything away. This movie is trying really hard to recapture the magic of Gladiator and mix in a little bit of that mystic Troy flavor and it might have done that if it were handled better. First off, The Rock is not a very good actor...like at all. He's like Stallone, as long as he doesn't talk, a la Rocky & First Blood, he's great. This movie doesn't get it, and it ends up giving Johnson too many opportunities to put his foot in his mouth (shined up and turned sideways of course). The second thing is that the movie is rated PG-13 and I'm sorry but if you're going to try do this right, it's simply got to be an R-rated film. Without the brutality it comes off as like a tiny bit better version of Hercules the 1990s TV show which MAYBE they were going for but ehh... I highly doubt it. Overall I'd say this is a good Redbox movie but with so many other choices this summer, save your money. It's not bad, it's just passable. Put it on the shelf as better than Alexander but not quite as good as Troy and just BARELY under Scorpion King. Hercules gets a 2.5...out of 5.