Is it worth your hard earned dollars to see the latest Bulgarian production, The Legend of Hercules?
The Legend of Hercules is a $75 million 3D picture by Finnish film director and producer Renny Harlin whose films include, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’, ‘Die Hard 2’, ‘Cliffhanger’ and ‘Deep Blue Sea’ may be the biggest draw even though the majority of the actors aren’t highly visible to the public.
Don’t expect quality acting. In an attempt to emulate the Starz original Spartacus saga genre, or HBO’s ‘Rome’, the uber pumped up pecs of lead, Twilight star and model Kellan Lutz as Hercules, is the only draw.
Lutz’s pretty-boy face seems heavily collagened because it didn’t seem to move or emote. It isn’t until the underlying ‘bromance’ begins with Liam McIntyre, the second Starz Spartacus, that any actor is seemingly acting.
The film begins with the typical Greek battle scenes, a castle bursting into flames, and poor acting from unknown actors. The effects and sounds were good, but they were not of high-quality nor were they convincing.
Confusion arose when Hercules’ mother, Queen Alcmene, succumbed to the lust of Zeus, god of the sky and king of the gods, and was impregnated with a child, a child who will be born to bring peace back to his homeland and become the greatest hero of his time.
Hercules was given the name of Alcides at birth, but as the film progresses, he starts to accept and embrace his destiny as Hercules.
Betrayed by his stepfather and half-brother, Hercules is sold into slavery and embarks on a quest to return to Argos, Greece to save his lover from a forced marriage.
Filled with action, betrayal, death, an impossible romance, sword fights, and the typical battle scenes, Hercules’ strength, to die-for-abs, and charming face was not enough to impress its audience.
During the motion picture, Hercules’ love interest, Princess Hebe, looked confused, scared, and did not have any other expressions besides those two. His father, King Amphitryon possessed only one facial expression throughout the entire film as well, anger, followed with obnoxious grunts and horrific roars.
Despite the overall film being unimpressive, it was also way too predictable.
There were no genuine surprises; it was all to be expected even for those who have never even seen previous Hercules movies or heard of the legend.
Although the movie received extremely bad reviews, it did a good job of amusing and making the audience laugh for slight seconds, and who wouldn’t want to see Kellan Lutz with a bronze tan, messy hair, steamy and passionate scenes, and those god-like abs? That may be the only part of the movie worth seeing.
