Hercules (2014): The Rock Has Locks
Unbelievably silly movie, but fantastically good natured fun for who can not love The Rock with a full mane of hair (literally and in warrior mode), plus a full on beard, a lion’s head battle hat and Brits as a cast of Classical times people cos RP accents are so Roman/Greek?!
Some nice casting against type — Rufus Sewell and Ian McShane are good! John Hurt is less knowing and more quizzical than usual, although appearances may be deceptive. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal and Rebecca Ferguson bring some nuance and class to the production alongside the Rock’s gentleness, dignity and tortured family guy stance.
Even when it all goes Lord of the Rings/Last Kingdom/every Viking movie with a village of bewitched tattooed angry people, the cast rise above the silly and bring some dynamism to the event — including some mean chariot moves. Seeking to debunk the Hercules myth or legend at every point with a heavy does of intelligent secularism, even as a con merchant, this is a fun retelling of Hercules. Think Fast and Furious: Ancient Fareways (with chariots). I’m also appreciating that the magicked tribe wait to attack the heroes one at a time, allow them time to maneuver into a shield wall and generally get cut off from this world with a CGI squelch rather than the horrific realism that is all too apparent on recent news. I.e. these enemies are unable to leap out of the way of the chariot scything towards them and obliging stand in a circle to be mown into oblivion, nor does anyone bleed when stabbed apart from Hercules (discretely).
Escapist Classical Swords and Sandals with attitude and lots of fun. A nice point is made though about Hercules rescuing a traumatised beserker warrior, (PTSD in the military hinted at). Oh yes, epic action too and fantastical military headgear! Probably not very historical (i.e. the training camp and archery being used like a rapid fire gun and flak jackets?!!) but there are nice touches like Rebecca Ferguson’s widowed character covering her head and arriving to tend the wounded with her women — she doesn’t just rock up alone. Also ancient times or Fortuny Delphi dresses?!!! Hmmm and a very Lord of the Rings looking plain battle sequence…(and fake centaurs!) Oh the horses acting in this scene though is really superb (and chariots!) Wolves have a bad rap in this film (fake Cerberus) but interestingly one of the strongest battle scenes is a defensive, protective one — proving not only that you can defeat a whole army with two meat cleavers from your Sunday roast, but also the nobility of protective defending violence and noble sacrifice. There are some really nice sacrificial moments — it’s much less OTT than the Marvel Universe. Refreshingly the violence in this epic is not glorified nor is there any violence against women glamourising sexual threat (older Spiderman movies I’m speaking about you here). Wow, this movie genuinely celebrates friendship between men and women, with some nice love between men expressed without being sexualised. I take it back, epic action… and friendship and harmonious relations between genders in Team Hercules….
Worth watching alone for the fact that Tobias Santelmann takes his lines very seriously indeed…And this movie offers us intriguing ideas about the dignity of enslaved ‘tribute’ in the victor’s train, what is tyranny and a new fangled thing called democracy. But, arghh, John Hurt is a duplicitous Thracian War Doctor…
