Hercules (2014, Dir. Brett Ratner, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Hurt, Ian McShane

Said to be born half-God and half-human, Hercules (Johnson, Aden G. Wright) is fabled for his amazing strength and heroic bravery in facing the many trials thrown in his wake by the goddess, Hera. The fame of Hercules and his cohorts bring him before the Thracian king, Cotys (Hurt) to fend off the enemies of Thrace.

As of late, there's been a sword and sandal revival in mainstream cinema. Tales steeped in ancient myth and legend, given a...not exactly faithful interpretation and then sold to a mass audience. 300 (2005) was mostly the instigator for this and mostly, I've not been impressed. I've never cared for 300 for a start.  More recently, there's been an evolution of this wave of films. Pompeii (2014) in particular seems to be bearing this flag. This new wave doesn't really consist of good films, in fact they're pretty poor, but there's a shameless and knowing glee to how poor they are. Hercules is the latest slab of lumbering camp to come out of this mess and whilst you get a sense that it's not as in on the joke as Pompeii was, and it's still pretty lame, it's also enjoyably daft regardless.

Those looking for a serious account of Hercules and Greek mythology need not watch this. It's really more suited to people who just wanted to watch endless bloody battles and an ample amount of nudity (as in, there's a woman's breast that is displayed, for no real reason, within the first minute or so of the plot) and just missing a higher rating than a permissive 12a certificate. whilst the cast, especially leading man Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson engage in dialogue that could at times just be summed up as "I'M SHOUTING LOUDER THAN YOU!".

Whilst the film does feature thespian talent in John Hurt and Ian McShane, they do little make the film seem more refined. McShane looks as if he's having a great time and Hurt seems to be making films in this style his bread and butter now. Meanwhile, for all of the notable plot and dialogue deficiencies, of which there are many, the film does sound very good and the sets are well-designed even if the CG is sometimes a little too obvious and the film was clearly engineering some of its effects towards 3D (I saw the 2D version). 

So if you want to see a "good" movie then don't go and see Hercules. But if you want to see an "entertaining" film, which is not necessarily the same thing, then check it out. Yes, it has some annoying secondary characters, ham-fisted dialogue and has all the depth of a puddle in a drought, but it seems to have fun with what it's got; and when a film's got The Rock picking up and slamming a horse, you do ultimately get what you pay for.