Review by Galen Garner

It is crazy to think that movies like The Legend of Hercules can still find their way into the movie theatre. What is even crazier to think is that Americans will flock to the theatre to throw their money at movies that should probably go straight to Netflix.

The Legend of Hercules starring Kellan Lutz as the mythical demi-god is an origin story of the Greek mythical hero. I normally enjoy origin stories and the getting to know the hero, but this movie missed all the elements that made me want to know more about Hercules. I’m thankful for the free passes to this movie because that is the only way that Summit Entertainment will get anyone to see this one.

In Director Reny Harlin’s version of the Greek hero, he brings Hercules into the world by way of Zeus impregnating a human. Queen Alceme (Roxanne McKee) is the lucky one to raise Hercules under the pseudo-name Apollodorus to protect his true identify from her husband, King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins). The king hates Hercules because of his strong, dashing, Twilight presence. Amphitryon hates Hercules is loved more by the people of Greece than his one true son, Iphicles (Liam Garrigan).

No one expects a good love story from movies like Hercules and the directors didn’t mind upholding the already lazy standards set by previous movie flops. The love story of Hercules and Hebe (Gaia Weiss) is terrible. The screen drips of rancid skunk love. Hebes has been promised in marriage to Iphicles, but she loves Hercules. This angers King Amphitryon so he summons Hercules to lead a band of warriors into a foreign land with no intention of him ever returning. Hercules and a friend of Greece named Sotiris (Liam McIntrye) take soldiers into the wilderness where thug soldiers ambush them. These soldiers were hired by King Amphitryon to kill Hercules, but instead they are sold into slavery.

A pitiful sadness falls over all of Greece. Hebe and Queen Alceme grieve what they believe to be the death of Hercules while Amphitryon and Iphicles rejoice at this feat. Hercules is not dead and through a series of gladiator battles finds himself with freedom and back in his homeland of Greece. His intentions in returning are to lead a rebellion against Amphitryon and thwart the upcoming marriage of Hebe to his half brother. All of this leads to a pretty decent battle between Hercules and Amphitryon in which the two wrestle around in weird slow motion for ten minutes.

The acting in this movie is lifeless and I enjoyed more action watching the lady next to me play with the battery saver app on her phone. I believe I have established that the story for this movie was pretty bland, but the special effects were the only thing more tasteless. The overuse of slow motion was just awful. If this movie had been played at regular speed then every sequence could have been achieved in less than one hour. Maybe that will be a Director’s Cut when Hercules hits Blu-ray.

Did I hate Hercules? No, I just prefer Kevin Sorbo to Kellan Lutz. I miss the middle of the day USA Network version of the Greek hero and I was extremely disappointed in this movie. This could have been a great movie, but unfortunately lands a massive – BORED! Do not waste your money on this movie because it will be in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart in four months.