Zeus (Rip Torn), Hera (Samantha Eggar), and the rest of the gods of Olympus are standard father figure / mentor characters that don’t have much screen-time, but do have interesting designs and some great voice actors, but are basically set dressing. Basically all characters are physically / emotionally weaker than him, letting Hercules be the de facto hero. Perfect (no physical or personality weaknesses to speak of), just to justify the “Damsel in Distress” angle for all supporting characters. He’s also very clumsy, and this flaw is remedied during “One Last Hope” where he instantly gains his footing, and for the rest of the film as an adult, he’s Mr. As a teenager, Hercules is searching for more and wanting to find his destiny. He doesn’t have that much character development either, his time divided as an infant, teenager, and adult.Īs an infant, he’s a cute baby with a few funny gags. He never really has to think aside from one battle at the end, everything is solved by punching something, and it’s boring. Hercules (Tate Donovan, Josh Keaton, Roger Bart (singing)) is the protagonist of the film, but honestly, he just gets given obstacles to get rid of. Give us a quick rundown of what’s happened, show us the first 40 minutes in a song or two (shorten it to 10, maybe), and then develop Hercules as a character from there. We go through his entire life in the span of an hour and a half, and that’s my main problem with this movie: It should have started in the middle. Let Hercules be seen training more, let us see a fight scene or two in depth. Part of this is devoting stretches of time into songs instead of giving us a spectacle. This film has a whole lot of set-up and a very short, small section of payoff that doesn’t land as well as it should, and comes across as too easy. Regarding the pacing, the plot points go by quickly and frequently, yet we spend so much time with so many characters to get to know them that the action is cut short here. While we don’t really see any lasting turmoil that Hercules is going through, Meg is in constant peril, and uses her wits to get out of situations, though she eventually pays the ultimate price. Hades’ plan is on the back burner throughout the film and isn’t given much weight or urgency, Phil’s main drive is literally solved in the last seconds of the film, and the only compelling narrative given is Meg’s plot. These plots aren’t explored well enough here, giving way to every other characters’ plots as well. Hercules has a ‘superhero origin’ plot that gives way to a ‘rising sports star’ plot that doesn’t really mesh well. It tries to focus on several plot points all at once. Turned mortal by the evil Hades, the great god Zeus’ son, Hercules, must prove himself a true hero before ascending back to godhood.Īnd that’s it in a nutshell… Oh what, you want me to extrapolate? Fine. A comedy of the ages, stuffed more than a Pita Pocket!
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