Krishna
A fun twist on the original story. The twelve labours of Hercules are told and over by the time the titles end. The mention of these in the rest of the story is purely referential. Dwayne Johnson is Hercules and does a fairly credible job in his role. But the role is not that of the legend Hercules. You realize early in the movie that they attempt to tell a strong man who lived, who with his nephew has created the myth of the twelve labours to make his enemies give up even before he starts battle with them and also to get more work. Yes he is a sellsword as George RR Martin would say, or a soldier for hire.
So when the pretty Ergenia approaches him and asks for help on behalf of her father, the King of Thrace, from a savage warlord, and promises to pay his weight in gold, he readily agrees and takes his companions with him. Ergenia’s son, and many others are already fans of Hercules, amazed by what they have heard of his “labours”.
He meets the General of Thrace and in answer to the latter’s questions, explains how he vanquished the Hydra and brought its head to King Eurethyus and you listen in, knowing that it is all made up and part of his sales promotion talk.
When you meet Lord Cotys (played by John Hurt) you think that it is a casting fiasco. Lord Cotys, the king of Thrace, looks like someone you could have dragged off the street, the thinner and the older the better, and stuck a crown on top of his head. But there is a method in the madness. No, it is not what you think. He is not an impostor or a pretender who is placed there to test Hercules by the real king. You realize later that this may have been done deliberately to lead you away from a plot twist.
Anyway, on with the story: Cotys tells of the savagery of warlord Rhesus. (Really? Rhesus? Did they not get any other Greek name except that of the famous breed of monkeys used for experiments?) who is ravaging his kingdom with an army of Satyrs (the half human, half horse creatures of legend).The army of Cotys is totally unprepared, untrained, powerless to resist the big challenge from Rhesus and the whole kingdom of Thrace is in danger.
Hercules agrees to help and trains the army in a crash schedule.
Hercules gets to see the savagery of Rhesus first hand when he walks into a trap set by the warlord in Bessi Heartland. It is a slaughterhouse but when they go deep in, they find that the enemy warriors are really many of the “corpses” and they are instantly surrounded by these men. We get to see the skill of Hercules and some cool tricks like chariots with spinning blades protruding from its wheels to cut down the scores of barbarian enemies but ultimately they are victorious. Cotys watches, too bewildered to act.
There are comic moments galore. Amphiaras, one of the core team of Hercules has a vision and a gift where he knows when his death will be. At several moments in the movie, he decides that the time has come and, for instance, stands in the path of flaming arrows with his eyes closed and arms extended, prepared to die at his appointed time, only to find that not a single arrow touched him!
They meet and capture Rhesus, get their gold and prepare to leave. Incidentally, the Satyrs of the new myth turn out to be simply soldiers on horses.
It is at this point that they realize that their mission is not over, but has barely begun. Hercules asks his comrades to go and says that he will stay there and finish the mission, even if there is no gold at the end of it. Of course, everyone chooses to stay except one : Autolycus, who takes all the gold for ‘safekeeping’ while the rest stay and finish what they came for – to bring peace to Thrace.
The final moments of the movie indicate how Hercules gets captured and is reminded of his own glory by his team and starts to believe in himself: even if the legends are false, the man behind it is true, strong, and capable of feats that beggar belief. In the end he triumphs, not before reaching heights to which the legends have raised him and not before Amphiaras makes one more attempt to ‘meet his end at the appointed time’ and fails.
A fairly interesting story, well told but is not gripping or the edge of the seat excitement, as in, say Edge of Tomorrow.
I would give this a 6/10
– – Krishna