As a legend builds up around his exploits, Hercules (Johnson) fuels his own myth with the help of his storytelling nephew Iolaus (Ritchie). He travels with Hercules' skilful gang of mercenaries, composed of sardonic soothsayer Amphiaraus (McShane), tetchy blade-thrower Autolycus (Sewell), arrow-shooting amazon Atalanta (Berdal) and animalistic righthand man Tydeus (Hennie). When they're hired by Lord Cotys (Hurt) to defend Thrace from the marauding Rhesus (Santelmann), the job seems straightforward enough, but events begin to twist and turn around them.

Based on Steve Moore's comic book, this story playful grounds the iconic legend by explaining how a purely human Hercules could accomplish his infamous feats. Well, not any normal human: this guy is The Rock, and Johnson's more pumped-up than ever, dwarfing everyone else on screen, including the horses. He's also having a great time in the role, charging into the wooden dialog with relish. The script layers in a tortured backstory for him, which helps add a bit of pathos. But really, the heavy acting is left to the professionals.

And there's terrific support from the seasoned likes of Hurt, McShane, Sewell, Mullan (as Cotys' general) and Fiennes (as the Greek king), all of whom merrily steal scenes and chew scenery while playing up their own running gags. In this sense, McShane emerges as the film's true star, with the best moments of comedy and drama in the movie. And there's more able support from the plucky Ritchie, feisty Berdal and an especially engaging Hennie.

Stir in some surprising plot developments, and there's more than enough material here to keep the audience entertained. Director Ratner may not bother with the details (effects are sometimes a bit ropey and the score is annoyingly banal), but he knows how to direct a thrilling, coherent massive-scale action sequence with lots of witty 3D touches. And he knows that the worst thing you could ever do with a movie in which all the men prance around in miniskirts is to take any of it very seriously.

themes, violence, language

22.Jul.14