The Legend of Hercules is a Godly disappointment. Directed by Renny Harlin and Staring Kellan Lutz this movie lacks good acting, good special effects, and a good story.
The Film tells the story of Hercules the son of Zeus and a mortal woman making him a demi-god. Hercules falls in love with the princess Hebe, Played by Gaia Weiss, who his older brother Iphicles, played by Liam Garrigan, is marrying thus he is betrayed and sold into slavery. The film follows Hercules as he tries to find his way back home to save the love of his life while trying to accept that his father is the king of the gods. The problem this film has is that the story is very basic and uninteresting. It focuses more on the romance than the concept of being a demi-god. The romance is boring and generic; Kellan Lutz and Gaia Weiss have no chemistry on screen. Most of the characters are boring and one noted. The direction in the movie is not good. The only good things are some of the fight choreography and some of the sets.
Kellan Lutz as Hercules teaches us that the key to being a demi god is to be a boring, use cheesy special affects, use only one tone of voice, and be super ripped. Lutz was a poor choice acting wise to be Hercules. He is is not funny, not cool, not charismatic, and he rarely shows emotion on screen. There are several actors who would have done a better job as Hercules like Chris Hemsworth, Sam Worthington, Chris Evans, or Manu Bennett. Lutz is boring, dull, and a complete disappointment. Gaia Weiss is boring and plays the damsel in distress and romantic interest. She just says romantic things and looks at Hercules with loving eyes and at his brother with disliking eyes. The villains are just down right boring and their motives to be evil are just uninteresting and are generic villain motives. The actors who portray them are overacting throughout most of the film.
The only actor who seems to be trying to act ok is Liam McIntyre who plays Hercules main ally Sotires. But he mostly plays the same role as he did in the TV series “Spartacus” only not as well. He seemed to show the most character range in the film from a captain of a platoon of soldiers to a loving father and husband to a loyal follower of Hercules.
Special effects are terrible and cheesy. You can tell when CGI is used and how bad the effects are, from cheap lightning to terrible creatures. You can tell every effect and it ruins the experience. This film uses too many slow-motion shots to the point of that even in non-action shots slow-motion is used and it is distracting. The best comparison I can think of is to the TV show “Spartacus” which many elements are taken from. The movie rips off costume designs, language; fight sequences and slow-motion shots from “Spartacus”. The action sequences were really short and were extended by the slow motion. The choreography was enjoyable but that is not enough to make it enjoyable.
Overall The Legend of Hercules is a major disappointment with terrible acting. The story is boring and predictable. The only enjoyable part is some of the fight scenes when they are going on but they are short. The only way to enjoy it is to turn off your brain and just watch the images if you can get past the bad effects. If you can’t then this film is not worth your time or money.
