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Hercules (2014 film)

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2014 American film
Hercules
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrett Ratner
Screenplay byRyan J. Condal
Evan Spiliotopoulos
Produced byBrett Ratner
Barry Levine
Beau Flynn
StarringDwayne Johnson
Ian McShane
Rufus Sewell
Joseph Fiennes
Peter Mullan
John Hurt
CinematographyDante Spinotti
Edited byMark Helfrich
Julia Wong
Music byFernando Velázquez
Production
companies		Flynn Picture Company
Radical Studios
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Release date
  • July 25, 2014 (2014-07-25)
Running time98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million
Box office$58.5 million

Hercules is an American adventure film directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Reece Ritchie, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Joseph Fiennes, and John Hurt. It is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. Distributed jointly by Paramount Pictures and MGM, it was released on July 25, 2014.

It is one of two Hollywood-studio Hercules films released in 2014, the other being Summit Entertainment's The Legend of Hercules.

Plot

Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) is the leader of a band of mercenaries comprising the prophet Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), the thief Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), the warrior Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), the archer Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and the storyteller Iolaus (Reece Ritchie). Hercules is said to be the demigod son of Zeus, who completed the legendary Twelve Labors, only to be betrayed by Hera, who drove him insane and caused him to murder his wife Megara (Irina Shayk) and their children during a visit to King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes). Hercules has since rejected Zeus and chosen to live as mortal, and is tormented by visions of Cerberus.

One day, Hercules and his men are approached by Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), on behalf of her father, Lord Cotys (John Hurt), who wants Hercules to train the armies of Thrace to defend the kingdom from bloodthirsty warlord Rheseus (Tobias Santelmann). Hercules accepts after he and his men are offered his weight in gold, and the band is welcomed to Thrace by King Cotys and General Sitacles (Peter Mullan), leader of the Thracian army. After training the army, Hercules and his men lead them into battle against local barbarians as a test of their strength. After the barbarians are defeated, Hercules and Sitacles confront Rheseus and his soldiers, believed to be Centaurs, but soon proven to be men on horseback. Rheseus is defeated and taken back to Thrace as a prisoner, where he is tortured and humiliated. Noticing that Ergenia has taken pity to him, Hercules confronts her and finds out Rheseus was merely retaliating against Lord Cotys' aggressive attempts to expand his kingdom, and, although Ergenia doesn't agree with his methods, she abides to them for the sake of her son, Arius, Lord Cotys' successor to the throne.

After receiving their reward, the mercenaries are ready to leave, but Hercules decides to stay behind to stop Cotys, and all but Autolycus choose to follow him. However, they are overpowered and captured by Sitacles and his men. While chained, Hercules is confronted by King Eurystheus, who is in league with Lord Cotys, and reveals that he drugged Hercules the night his family died, viewing him as a threat to his power. Hercules' family was in fact killed by three vicious wolves sent by Eurystheus, resulting in Hercules' constant hallucinations of Cerberus. When Lord Cotys orders Ergenia to be executed for her betrayal, Hercules is encouraged by Amphiaraus to embrace his destiny and breaks free of his chains, saving Ergenia and slaying the wolves. Hercules releases the prisoners, including Rheseus, and then confronts King Eurystheus, impaling him with a dagger. He is attacked by Sitacles, who is then stabbed by Iolaus.

Outside, Hercules and his forces battle Lord Cotys and his army. Arius is taken hostage, but then rescued by Autolycus, who has decided to return to help his friends. In the ensuing battle, Tydeus is mortally wounded arms after slaughtering numerous Thracian soldiers. Hercules then pushes a statue of Hera from its foundations and uses it to crush Lord Cotys and many of his soldiers. The surviving soldiers bow to Hercules, and Arius takes the throne, with Ergenia at his side, while Hercules and his men depart in search of other adventures.

Cast

Production

The film is directed by Brett Ratner. The producers are Beau Flynn, Barry Levine, and Ratner, with Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey, Ross Fanger, and Jesse Berger serving as executive producers.

To prepare for the role, Johnson took on a grueling training routine, stating: "I trained and worked harder than ever for 8 months for this role. Lived alone and locked myself away (like a moody 260-lb. monk) in Budapest for 6 months while filming. Goal was to completely transform into this character. Disappear in the role. Press journalist asked me today, with the mental & physical toll the role had on me, would I do it again? Not only would I do it again.. I'd do it fucking twice."

Release

Box office

In North America, Hercules was released on July 25, 2014 at 3,595 theaters, and grossed $11 million its opening day and $29 million its opening weekend; it placed second at the box office, behind Lucy ($44 million for the opening weekend).

Hercules, described as "pumping some much-needed life into a lackluster summer at U.S. and Canadian theaters," did financially better than expected, as it "topped the expectations of analysts by roughly $4 million" and beat out Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which finished third with $16.4 million." Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo stated, "The fact that Hercules got close to $30 million is a testament to The Rock's ability to mobilize his massive fanbase." The audience for Hercules was 58 percent male and 64 percent over the age of 25."

Outside North America, the film was released in 26 foreign markets in 3,364 locations and earned $28.7 million. Hercules dominated the Russian box office with a strong $12 million debut from 930 locations. Australia had a No. 1 with $3.5M at 222 locations. Hercules also journeyed to several Asian territories where it had strong No. 1s including in Malaysia ($1.6M from 110), Philippines ($1.2M from 134), Taiwan ($1.2M) and Singapore ($1.1M at 27) IMAX was globally worth $6M with international repping $2M on 114 screens; over $1M came from Russia.

Critical reception

Hercules was met with mixed critical reviews, with general sentiment being that the film was a pleasant surprise to critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 61%, based on 85 reviews, with a rating average of 5.3 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: "Hercules has Brett Ratner behind the cameras and Dwayne Johnson rocking the loincloth – and delivers exactly what any reasonable person reading that description might expect." On review aggregator Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100 based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a B+ grade, on a scale of A to F.

Scott Foundas, chief film critic for Variety wrote in a positive review that "It’s a grandly staged, solidly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure movie that does something no other Hercules movie has quite done before: It cuts the mythical son of Zeus down to human size (or as human as you can get while still being played by Dwayne Johnson)," and further added that " strongest asset is surely Johnson, who continues to foster one of the most affable, guileless screen personas in movies today. Johnson may have been born with screen presence wired into his DNA, but he's gradually cultivated the skills of a canny actor who knows just how to play to the camera and whose brute physical prowess is cut with a sly self-awareness. More than anything else, it's he who gives this Hercules his human-sized soul."

Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News stated, "It's fast-paced, funny, and packed with eye-popping action. The effects are impressive, but there are none bigger than the star Dwayne Johnson's massive powerful physique which perfectly suited to the character and the large-scale movie." She added, "Johnson makes his entrance wearing a conquered lion’s head and a loincloth skirt. The fact that he can pull this look off sets the tone for everything else to come."

By contrast, John DeFore of The Washington Post stated, " simply fails to exploit its assets: an amusing, revisionist take on the mythological strongman, and the charisma of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson." James Berardinelli said, "A big-budget misfire of a sizeable order, a visually busy but emotionally dead endeavor that wearies the viewer with endless computer generated special effects while failing to provide a scintilla of human interest."

Controversy

Steve Moore, the recently deceased author whose name is used in the promotion of the film wanted to have his name disassociated from the adaptation, according to an interview excerpt with his friend, acclaimed author Alan Moore. According to Bleeding Cool editor-in-chief Hannah Means-Shannon:

"In essence, Alan Moore’s account suggests that Steve Moore had been observing multiple drafts of his contract with Radical Comics over time and was firmly under the impression that he would receive at least a 'paltry' 15,000 dollars should a film be made, but upon closer investigation found that the final version of the contract had removed that clause without his attention being fully drawn to that fact. And therefore leaving him unable to make any legal claim to payment. That fact alone should be enough to give potential viewers of the film pause, but there’s also the fairly callous way in which his name has been used against his wishes to promote the film in a way that is, unfortunately, typically opportunistic of the film industry."

See also

References

  1. "HERCULES (12A)". Paramount Pictures. British Board of Film Classification. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  2. ^ "Hercules (2014) (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  3. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 15, 2013). "Brett Ratner and Dwayne Johnson's Hercules to Hit Theatres in August 2014". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  4. ^ Kit, Borys (March 21, 2013). "Ian McShane Joins Dwayne Johnson in 'Hercules' for MGM and Paramount (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  5. Ford, Rebecca (February 26, 2013). "Hercules Release Date Moves to July 25, 2014". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  6. "Hercules Total Box Office Collection Prediction". BoxOfficeIncome. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  7. Kroll, Justin (May 2, 2013). "Ingrid Bolsø Set to Battle with Dwayne Johnson in 'Hercules' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  8. "Steve Peacocke bound for Hollywood, then home to Summer Bay - Home and Away - Official Site". Au.tv.yahoo.com. May 9, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  9. "[WATCH] 'Hercules' Trailer: The Rock is back in new preview". Deadline.com. PMC. June 3, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  10. "Hercules Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane Movie HD". YouTube. March 26, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  11. "'Hercules' Adds 'Twilight' Actor to the Cast". Variety. June 26, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  12. "Twitter / TaminaSnuka: Studying My Script to add some". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  13. "Twitter / BarbaraPalvin: Had an amazing day shooting". Twitter.com. September 16, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  14. "Twitter / BrettRatner: So excited to have @barbarapalvin". Twitter.com. September 9, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  15. Reynolds, Simon. "Dwayne Johnson in first trailer for Hercules – watch". Digital Spy.
  16. "The Rock Opens Up About 'Hercules' Preparation | Muscle & Fitness". Muscleandfitness.com. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  17. "Theater Counts for Week 30 of 2014". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  18. ^ "'Lucy,' 'Hercules' beat expectations at weekend box offices". Reuters. July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  19. Cunningham, Todd (July 27, 2014). "Scarlett Johansson's 'Lucy' Hammers 'Hercules' and The Rock at Box Office". The Wrap. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  20. ^ Ray Subers (July 27, 2014). "Weekend Report: 'Lucy' Wins Brain vs. Brawn Battle". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  21. Nancy Tartagloine (July 27, 2014). "UPDATE: Intl Box Office: 'Apes' Dawns In Latin America; 'Godzilla' Stomps Into Japan; 'Hercules' Shows $28.7M Muscles; 'Transformers' Passes $300M In China; More". Deadline.com.
  22. Jeremy Kay (July 27, 2014). "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes surges to $54.8m international box office". screendaily.com.
  23. Busch, Anita (July 21, 2014). "Box Office: 'Lucy' To Overpower 'Hercules' And 'Apes' This Weekend". Deadline.com. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  24. Zuckerman, Esther (July 24, 2014). "The Most Unexpected Quotes from 'Hercules' Reviews". The Wire. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  25. "Hercules". Rotten Tomatoes. January 1, 1970. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  26. "Hercules Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  27. Foundas, Scott. "Film Review: Hercules". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. Weitzman, Elizabeth (July 25, 2014). "Hercules: movie review". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 25, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. DeFore, John (July 25, 2014). "Brett Ratner's 'Hercules' is actually entertaining in places". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  30. Berardinelli, James (July 25, 2014). "Hercules". ReelViews. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  31. "Alan Moore Calls For Boycott Of 'Wretched Film' Hercules On Behalf Of Friend Steve Moore". BleedingCool.com. Retrieved July 18, 2014.

External links

Films directed by Brett Ratner
Categories: