Hercules: Review By moviegeek

Disney animators took a break from the serious and dark pictures like The Lion King, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to make their 1997 feature, Hercules. The movie is made of nothing but entertainment and fun, and it ends up being nothing but funny and entertaining!

Hercules is the son of Zeus. As a baby, he is captured by Zeus' evil brother, Hades, of the underworld. Hercules is turned almost entirely mortal, but because of a mishap, the baby keeps his superhuman strength through childhood and manhood.

Eventually, he sets out on a quest to become a true hero so he can reunite with his father. On this quest, he must overcome fierce titan creatures and Hades' own master plan to reign on high. Along the way he meets a physical trainer, Phil (Danny DeVito), and a curvy girl named Meg.

The animation is laden with sharp angles and bold colors. Some of the creatures are created with advanced computer animation that give them a third-dimension of sorts. I prefer the look of The Hunchback of Notre Dame much more than this rather cheap-looking and unsophisticated style.

But this movie is everywhere. The animation and the story aren't the selling points. This is a comedy! Hades is one hilarious villain, so who cares that he looks reminiscent of Ursula from the little mermaid. Meg is feisty and entertaining, so who cares that her hip seems disjointed from the rest of her body. The animators at Disney have done better works, but it isn't the highlight here.

Hercules pulls satire from Greek mythology, ancient history, current myth, and even some Disney pop-culture (like when Hercules poses for a painting wearing a lion skin, later unveiled to belong to Scar of The Lion King). There is never a break from the humor and hyper energy found here.

The characters are all fantastically entertaining and funny--except Hercules. That was my biggest problem with the movie. Much like Aladdin, Hercules is very dull, rather unintelligent, and ultimately flat to watch. He seems to be a plot device and not a person. His animation makes his face look quite ugly too.

Hercules, the movie now, is a musical as well. While the tunes aren't quite as memorable as other Disney songs, they blend perfectly with Gospel rhythm and style. The songs never felt out of place or forced.

This is one enjoyable movie. It is on a similar realm to The Emperor's New Groove in it's Looney-Toonsy pacing. But I watched this for probably the third time still with a smile on my face knowing that that was what it set out to do.