Reviews for Hercules

This is a movie that needs to be watched twice, because the first time you end up going, "Huh? What?" It's a radical departure from the usual Disney fare, a satirical romp that pokes fun at the idea of the hero and the damsel-in-distress, as well as the entire world of movie hype. Hercules, the too-good-to-be-true hero, is destructively clumsy; Megara drily informs him she can handle her own rescue; Hades, the villain, sounds like a hungry financial advisor on commission; and when Herc becomes a famous hero, he ends up on not only on urns but on pseudo-Greek lunchboxes, sandals, and drink cups. The anachronisms are thrown in with cheerful abandon, deliberately rather than carelessly, as it often seems in such movies as Dinosaur. The music is gospel style rather than Broadway, and the entire movie is bright, loud, and lots of fun.

The plot: Newborn god Hercules is stolen from his parents and turned into a (99%) mortal by the minions of Hades, who's learned from the Fates that Herc will mess up his "hostile takeover" of Olympus. Herc is raised by mortals but has his godlike strength, which, coupled with adolescent clumsiness, makes it certain he feels like an outsider. Discovering that he is the son of Zeus and that he can return to Olympus if he becomes a genuine hero, he goes into hero training and then ventures out to do heroic deeds. In the course of his quest, he grows up and finds love, friendship, and family.

The characters: Hercules himself is a goody-two-shoes who's too amiable to hate, as the tart-tongued, independent heroine Megara discovers. She is a treat, a tough lady with a deeply-buried heart and most of the best lines. All the other good lines go to Hades, one of the most original and hilarious villains ever seen. The movie is narrated by The Muses, a delightful "gospel group". The sidekicks - Phil, Herc's trainer, as well as Pain and Panic, the villain's minions - are as unorthodox as the rest of the film.

The bad news: A lot of people simply couldn't accept this odd a film from the Disney machine and consider the film and the music silly. The plot is so obvious that any child can predict it. The brilliant colors don't work as well in video as they do in the theater.

The good news: If you can accept the concept, there is a lot of humor and some terrific satire in this film. The characters, with the exception of Phil, are fun to be around and easy to like - and even Phil has his good side. The reluctant heroine and sleazy villain are simply wonderful. It's bright and bouncy, both in music and in animation. This is a delightful romp.

Definetely not the best Disney film. However, the singing is incredible, and even the sidekicks aren't half bad.

I think this movie is possibly the most underappreciated Disney movie ever to grace the theatres. Recently, I came to a realization that this is one of my favorite animated movies ever!! It is one of the first Disney movies that actually took advantage of the fact that it IS animation! Our senses our treated to the most stylized and cartoony characters ever to grace the Disney screen. Everyone and everything is overly exhaderated as it should be. Megara's killer hips wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if they had made her look more realistic. That's half the fun of animation, isn't it? Doing what real live action can't do!

Hercules has often been shunned by those idiots that seem to hunt for something to criticize. They say they don't like it because it deviates so drastically from the original greek myths. Puh-Lease!!!!! Get over yourselves ya sillies!! Greek Mythology deviates from it's own stories drastically! It is so complex and confusing that any number of legends in it could be right!

Well, I think I've done enough ranting and raving. I want to conclude by proclaiming that Hercules is a rare gem in the world of Disney animation and I am VERY VERY proud of it. And off topic, Hades is my FAVORITE Disney Villain. James Woods.. **purrr**

I'm sorry, I practically hated this movie. I am one of those people who can't stand innacuracies in my Greek myths, and this thing was all over the place wrong. Hercules's mother was HERA, for the love of the Gods. Zeus wa made out to be some good old dad. I also didn't like how the Gods were all sterotyped and a solid color, it was a bit disturbing. And I didn't like gospel signing muses--especially when four are missing. The whole "sell your soul to Satan" thing annoyed me. Most of the mosters were'nt too good. and Hercules being some lanky teen really didn't fit. I didn't like Phil, he was useless to the plot. And I always have seen Hades as a suave debonair guy who makes sure the dead don't mess us up and go around haunting, as opposed to this bad joke cracker. I do realize that Disney couldn't do the real story, but still, making Hera out to love Heracles as her son was the final straw for me. I could lie and say that something in this movie was good, but to me it was just one bad run of a story. I aprecciate Disney and all they do for good art, but don't touch the Greek unless you do it right.