Verdict: ★ ★ ★ 1/2

They say that legends begin with normal people who believe in themselves, and that’s how this interesting take on one of history’s greatest heroes is told. The stories of the mighty Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) are told far and wide thanks to his nephew, the bard Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) whose silver tongued tales turn farmers into armies.

However, as it’s quickly revealed, the stories are just that… stories. Hercules is a powerful mercenary and also relies on the support of his elite team of fellow mercenaries to keep getting hired by kings for impossible missions. Amphiaraus the seer (Ian McShane and his awesome voice), Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), Tydeus (Aksel Hennie) and the Amazon Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) round out his team of badasses as they are hired on by Lord Cotys (a spectacular John Hurt) to help defend the land from an rival lord bent on takeover.

Turns out, there’s always more than meets the eye on just about every level!

Hercules was a surprisingly smart movie, immersed in the sort of action packed, Greek desert set piece world as Conan the Barbarian but with much more thought. The characters were shallow archetypes… mindless warriors, storytellers who want to prove their own strength, sniper level bow carrying Amazon women, kings with deceitful plans and lots of gold, generals with grudges. And yet, every character in this movie had a depth that leaves the viewer satisfied.

The actors took what they had and gave it their all. Without this level of superior acting, this movie would certainly have been flushed by my friends over at Soiled Restroom Cinema sooner or later! But Brett Ratner’s direction behind the helm made Hercules work very well, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

My favorite in this one had to be (hands down) Ian McShane, who both narrated the movie and provided most of the humor. His voice is to die for but aside from that, he was enjoyable in every scene. Pictured above in one of the coolest scenes of the movie, he is a “seer” who saw his own death by fiery arrow and awaits it in every battle scene, having made peace with his impending doom. However, he continues to be disappointed and the way he reacts is hilarious every. single. time!

General Sitacles (Peter Mullan, the gray haired, pony tailed death eater Yaxley inHarry Potter 7) is appropriately badass, another deep gravel voiced, no nonsense dude I enjoy very much.

All in all, I found the movie worth seeing at least once for the sake of having a refreshing take on the Greek legend, and came away smiling.