#HERCULES 2014

[sarafangirlart]

The most insulting thing to me about Hercules 2014 (not the Rock one) is that they make Hebe the mortal princess of Crete, not a goddess.

Booooo let Heracles be a sister fucker like his daddy you cowards!

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Grounding Gifts - Atalanta/Ergenia/Hercules

A/N: Day 2 for @polyshipweek

It starts with thunderstorms keeping Ergenia on edge, shaky enough that Atalanta moves into her room, keeping her calm and quiet at night, nudging Hercules to stick closer in the day. Hercules finds small things, gifts, for them both. His smile soft when Ergenia blushes and ducks her head just a little, curling into his arms then reaching for Atalanta. The three have settled into an almost relationship, Ergenia still too nervous to accept the thought. In the end, it changes when thunder strikes too close to home, startling Ergenia into Hercules’ arms, Atalanta quick to move closer and take Ergenia’s hand, watching Hercules trace a strong hand down Ergenia’s arm to take her other hand, the quiet reassurance works, until it doesn’t, the three ending up entwined even as they settle on the stairs of Ergenia’s home, keeping her close and safe.

[wuxiaphoenix]

Movie Review: Hercules (2014)

Hercules (2014), with Dwayne Johnson playing the title role. I missed this one when it first came out. In my defense, 2014 was not a good year for me. Which might be saying the hurricane was kind of gusty... anyway. I’ve seen it now, and this one deserves to be spread around! Five out of five for adventure, creative interpretations of myths to more “legends”, and some really good battle buddies/found family stuff.

On a more sobering note - if you want a good look at how sociopathic personalities work, how good they are at fooling people, being convincing, and terrifying whole masses of others into going along with them? The last third of this movie will make that very clear. These are some Very Bad Guys, these villains.

(And we get to see them violently taken out. Good. Good. We need more of this!)

Ahem. Yes, I may be on a bit of a sword and sorcery, Conan the Barbarian-style go for the gold and killing bad guys kick at the moment. Too much politics screwing up Real Life for all of us right now; a good escapist fantasy where there are good guys and bad guys and we know who makes a thump as they hit the floor, is definitely called for.

So. Idea is that the Labors of Hercules are real, but... some of the “monsters” were exaggerated. And Hercules is not a lone fighter, but the leader of a team of skilled mercenaries. Which fits some of the stories I’ve read - he was not just a berserker, he was a guy who could think!

The group leans into the stories, and spreads them wilder and larger-than-life on purpose - what better way to break the morale of, say, a bunch of pirates than to make sure they know they’re fighting a demigod? (With well-armed and concealed allies to take out bad guys in large bunches.) And then they get hired to defend a country against a man who seems to be allied with demons....

Here’s where, if you only got a glimpse of the trailers first, you might skip this movie. The trailers seem to lean into “the gods are unleashing monsters on humankind!” The movie? It’s more about humans being monsters. And humans dealing with the aftermath of violence they’ve dealt or witnessed. Tydeus, in particular, has been so traumatized he never speaks... but he is fiercely loyal, Hercules looks after him and plans to take him along when he retires to a place no one will know him or his reputation anymore. Tydeus also has a nice detail in his scenes; he is a reflexive, vicious fighter with two axes in combat. So when he charges someone for a spar (or to test the strength of a shield formation), he drops the axes first.

This is a good movie for showing how people who are good at violence, who have dealt with it large parts of their lives, are also responsible and careful with that violence. The people who aren’t, are Bad Guys.

It’s also a good tale for reminding us all that while monsters may kill you, people who crave power are even more dangerous. Be prepared!

The scenery and battle tactics are also a treat. Unprepared soldiers get wrecked. Trained ones do much better. And the fire and derring-do at the end... well, you can see more legends springing up about the gods getting involved, especially given the bad guy was a family-murderer and Hera’s dominion being directly affected!

Yeah. This one is good; planning to get a DVD when I can. In the meantime - it’s up on YouTube!

[muchemovies]

HERCULES (2014) Johnson's mini-masterpiece

[yourlocalsonia2]

Something I love about Hercules(2014) is that they make it that the whole "demigod, son of Zeus" thing was a story his friends / family made for him and his feats. But in the end, they leave it so you can decide or speculate if he actually was a demigod or if it was just plain old stories

[newwavesylviaplath]

(mutuals if u see this u should reblog it maybe just cuz i need as many opinions as possible love u)

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Man, whenever I opened on X, I was bombarded by Zeuszilla fanart and videos and I am internally screaming

[six-demon-bag]

𐌋𐌄Ᏽ𐌄𐌍𐌃𐌀𐌓𐌙 𐌌Ꝋ𐌍𐌔𐌕𐌄𐌓𐌔 HERCULES (2014)

[popclture]

Kellan Lutz in The Legend Of Hercules (2014)

[whynot-movies]

Hercules (2014)

[sixbucks]

The Rock Johnson giving his best John Wick.

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[badassbutterfly1987]

2023 Movie Reviews

(films I watched between January and June)

5 stars

Puss 'n Boots The Last Wish (2023): Gorgeous animation, solid antagonists, and I loved the message.

Everest (2015): A disaster film but one that is both well-made and based on a real event, the 1996 expedition. There were a lot of characters to keep track of so I did get lost a few times but the emotional moments hit, especially the ending.

4 stars

John Wick 4 (2023): a mostly satisfying climax to the series, even if some of the scenes went on a little too long. New characters were great and I would love to see more of them if they return in the wider series now that John's story is seemingly done.

3 stars

DnD Honor Among Thieves (2023): A lot of fun, really liked the characters, even if some arcs felt underdeveloped.

Tranformers RotB (2023): Better than the weaker Bayformers entries but didn't have the same heart as Bumblebee (2018). The characters, aside from the human leads, felt a little underwritten and fight scenes just didn't have the same weight (not sure if it's a CGI problem or a choreography problem).

The Watcher (2000): Keanu Reeves plays a serial killer and it's strangely compelling, especially his interactions with James Spader's lead character. Extra points to the one victim that fights back and almost survives. Rest of the film is very mediocre and marred by early 2000s style editing.

2 stars

Antman Quantumania (2023): a middle of the road MCU film, not much more to it than that. Which is pretty disappointing after I loved the first two, this one just didn't have the same heart. Villain was cool at least, though I'm not sure he's interesting enough to be the new arc villain of the MCU. Definitely felt like the film was cut up in post-production.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008): A pretty lackluster remake that recontextualizes fear of nuclear war into fear of global warming but doesn't portray that message as well. Keanu Reeves' version of Klaatu works surprisingly well; he's much colder than the original and just the right level of unsettling that fits with the difference in his mission. Wish the rest of the film was better because I actually like the updated ideas.

The Rain Killer (1990): A noir-esque film that just doesn't work. Characters act in borderline nonsensical ways that accidentally make it compelling in that I was trying to figure out motives but that doesn't make it satisfying. Horny and generally mysogonistic and the story isn't good enough to make up for it.

1 star

The Legend of Hercules (2014): Scott Adkins as Amphitryon is the one bright spark in this because he's just having fun as an over the top villain. Shame the rest of the film is bland and boring and just generally a lacking re-telling of the Hercules myth (I swear they made changes that make it feel more Christian and I don't know how to feel about that).

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[jasonsutekh]

Hercules (2014)

The famed son of Zeus is recruited, along with his comrades, to defend the kingdom of Thrace from insurgents.

Although the plot is fairly basic and saves time by drawing on a story most of the audience will already know, it still has enough twists to remain entertaining in the gaps between fight scenes. The references to the original myths are muddled somewhat which is in keeping with the oratory nature of the stories and the many versions that are recorded today.

There are no actual monsters which is a big let-down, they’re just cut-aways to stories or hallucinations, the rest is just a fake up but it’s interesting to see how they bring some aspects into the real world of the film. We see very little of the revolutionaries after their capture which is disappointing, one would expect some development from them. It’s never made clear if Hercules is really strong or not as he manages superhuman feats but it’s not specifically remarked upon.

The effects are all good quality, most notable the monsters which makes it all the more of a shame that they get so very little screen time. The choreography of the battles is at least interesting as some real ancient stratagems are used and there are some traps too which keep it engaging. Some of the actors also work out well in their roles, nobody falls short.

Much of the run time is taken up by long action sequences that barely even need any dialogue and only provide superficial entertainment. The universe in which the film takes place is a sadly dull version of Ancient Greece, eradicating much of the culture apart from columns. We see none of the beautiful lettering, the birth of democracy, or the attitudes towards sex and relationships that was arguably more modern than today's view of it.

3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there!-

-The wirter died the year of the release after having disowned the movie, despite this, condolences were still used as a way of advertising it.

-The original Greek name of the character was Heracles, Hercules is the Roman version of the name.

-The Trojan War is referenced as a past event, but in most myths Hercules died before the war.