First off, this is Disney and as most of us know, it's going to be very, very different from the source material which was the Ancient Greek Myths about Hercules, which is too dark to be a kids film, so keep in mind, I am NOT going to compare this film to the Greek stories. So the plot is, Hercules is the son of the God Zesus and lord of the underworld, Hades finds out that Hercules is going to defeat his plans of taking over Mt.Olympus in the future. Hades sends his two minions Pain and Panic to turn him mortal with a formula that he has secret in his lair and have him killed. However, the two mess it up and Hercules still has his strength. The two minions decide to keep it a secret from Hades that they failed and convince him that they finished the job. HOW DOES HADES NOT KNOW, HE'S THE LORD OF THE FREAKING UNDERWORLD!? Anyway, as time goes by Hercules is raised by a mortal family, but becomes a misfit with his strength. When Hercules finds out that he's actually a God, the only way for him to regain his "Godhood" is to become a true hero. Hercules, his flying horse Pegasus and Phil the Satyr help whip him to shape to become a hero. Hades FINALLY discovers that Hercules is alive and does what ever he can to kill him as well try to use Hercule's love interest Meg against him. The plot feels mostly like a mix between "Superman" and "Rocky". I understand the Superman part because Superhero stories did originate from Greek Mythology but mixing it with "Rocky" along with it's Disneyish retelling of Greek Mythology with a very unusual style, modern Las Vegas look and feel, the film kind of feels all over the place.
Our leading male Hercules, I'm going to be honest, I really don't find him that interesting. I mean, sure he's likable, you can feel his emotions fine, but I'm sorry I feel like I've seen this character dozens of times before. A zero who becomes a hero, a hero who constantly gets tricked, but manages to save the day anyway, a hero that would risk his life for a loved one, yeah seen it all before. His personality is nothing special either because again, there's really nothing new to this character. I don't hate this Disney character because again, he is likable but comparing him to someone like Aladdin, Basil, Quasimodo or Simba, there's nothing really new or special about him that make him so interesting as the Disney characters I just mentioned. As for his fighting scenes, they're enjoyable, but not what I call kickass or something jaw dropping.
Hercule's love interest Meg, she's ok. Granted, she's nothing special, she's always getting captured and in trouble, but I still find her likable even if she just is a damsel in distress. I enjoy her sassy personality, I feel her emotions and struggles of her past and love for Hercules, and I like how her character changes from being a minion working for the villain who hates guys to actually being on the heroes and finding out that guys aren't as bad as the guy she was previously with. Again, much like Hercules, she's still a cliche character, but I still find her enjoyable and the chemistry between the two is there.
If there's one reason why I enjoy this movie so much is the villain Hades voiced by James Woods. First of all, I like that he's not some dark and scary humorless villain (Not that I don't mind those types of villains), I like that he's a cool smooth fast talker with an anger issue and a great sense of humor. James Woods is just perfect for those types of roles and here he's not only perfect for this villain, but he sounds like he's having a ball. In fact, James Woods enjoyed playing this villain so much that he returned to voice this character whenever Disney needed him. He also has great and fun quotable dialogue (Not to mention that most of it is improvised), has a creative army of monsters and minions, his design is great and I love how he bursts into red hot flames whenever he's pissed. He's a great villain and he's one the funniest Disney villains of all time.
The supporting cast is actually really fun. First, we have the Satyr Phil voiced by Danny Devito and while Devito is just playing Devito and that the character is obviously a Greek version of Mickey from the "Rocky" films, he's still a really funny, enjoyable and likable character. I even love watching his relationship with Hercules. By the way, while I feel for his dream of training a hero so great that the Gods would put a picture of him in the stars BUT he trained Perseus who does indeed has a constellation in the stars, on top of it he killed Medusa and yet she makes a cameo in the film. Maybe this is part of the films artistic license and Disney's own take on Greek Mythology but then again, you are referencing a Greek character and without telling your own fictional take on it, will just assume that it's the real original story. I don't know, this universe is confusing me man, but I digress. The flying horse Pegasus is very funny and likable and I enjoy that he and Phil shares the same feeling for Hercules and his love interest. Hercule's Father Zesus has a great design, is very wise, very fun and enjoyable, and he's a cool Father figure. The rest of the Gods (While in cameos) are also really fun and creative, of course the God everyone remembers is Hermes the messenger God voiced by Paul Shaffer who's always fun in every scene he's in. Then there's the minions Pain and Panic voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer who make an excellent funny duo. You also have the three fates who comically share an eye that can see all who are really funny and creepy at the same time. There's many more characters to talk about like those cool Monsters and Titans, the Thebian people, Hercule's mortal parents and so on. They're all great fun and supporting characters.
The narrators of the film are a Gospel Group called the Muses, which to be honest, while being a different and interesting choice for an Ancient Greek film, I still think it works fine. They're funny, entertaining, and sing in great harmony. As for the songs, I still remember them fine. I still remember that musical narration in the first 13 minutes or so from the film called "The Gospel Truth", which I like that the first verse is fun and catchy; the second verse is eerie; and the final verse is sad. There's also that song "Zero To Hero" which is a really fun and awesome song with a really fun montage and I love their parody of product placement in Greek times for our hero. There's the song that Meg sings called "I Won't Say I'm In Love" which really shows the character's emotions as well as being fun and catchy. There's Phil's song as he comically trains our Hero which is funny, but is probably the least catchiest one in the whole film. There's also the films finale song which really does end the film on a happy note with a great feeling. Finally, there's my favorite song in the film which was nominated for an Oscar called "Go To Distance" sung by Young Hercules, which I'll admit is a very powerful and beautiful song. So the music in the film is really good and still holds up.
The animation is done by Gerald Scarfe, who did the animation for "Pink Floyd's The Wall" which is very surreal, unusual and interesting, and while the animation here is good, it kind of feels all over the place. I guess it's trying to bring that look that "Aladdin" had with a fantasy modern look and pop culture references whenever we're with the Genie, which did work, but here it feels like a mess. I mean when you think that Disney is going to animate Greek Mythology, would you expect it to look anything like the pictures you're looking at? You'd expect it to be more artsy like the paintings or statues we constantly see from those times. Not to say I don't like the animation it is creative, colorful, cool and unique in its own view and take on the Greek Mythology, but come on it feels like I'm looking at an animated version of Las Vegas's take on Greek Mythology. Again, maybe it's trying to bring that look and feel that "Aladdin" had, but again we've seen that style before from Disney and trying to combine it with Greek Mythology along with Las Vegas, a Gospel choir narration, "Rocky", "Superman", pop culture references (Mostly on Greek), and surreal animation leads to one huge mess up of a film and atmosphere.
While the film feels like a mess of different ideas, has a few plot holes and a few cliche characters that we've seen before in both cinema and Disney, I still enjoy it. The hero while cliche and not interesting, he's still likable enough for you to root for. The love interest is a cliche character too, but at least is fun and a person you can feel for; and as I said before the romance between the two is there. The villain is awesome and never gets boring. The supporting characters are a lot of fun. The songs still hold up as they did when I was a kid. The animation again while different, all over the place and beyond our expectation it's still creative. Is it what I call a great Disney classic or Masterpiece, NO, but it's not all that bad either it's just really different. Some people will love it, some will hate it.
RATING 3/5
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