I’ve seen one Hercules movie this year, the Kellan Lutz starrer The Legend of Hercules, so I wasn’t really sure if I was ready for another one. The earlier one was a bit of a chore to sit through, leaning more to the juvenile spectrum than even the 1950s versions that are seen as pure camp today (granted, most US audiences have never seen the original versions of those Italian sword and sandal epics, just choppily edited versions). Lutz looked the part, to be sure, but he really had nothing to work with.

But we knew then that there was another take on the legend coming, this time starring Dwayne Johnson and simply titled Hercules. The only real drawback at the time was that the film was being directed by the almost universally reviled Brett Ratner, who hasn’t made a good film in about as long as the other Herc movie’s director Renny Harlin has. But Johnson oozes enough charm out of every pore to make audiences like just about anything he’s in. Could he actually save this Hercules?

The answer is a surprising yes! We probably know, or vaguely know, the legend of Hercules from movies, TV shows, cartoons and even comic books. The half-god son of Zeus and a mortal woman, embued with amazing strength, set upon with twelve labors that include killing various mythological creatures. That word is key to this Hercules because it treats the character as a real human and the legend surrounding him is nothing put pure myth that he uses for monetary gain (with the help of his band of mercenaries and a silver-tongued nephew who spins his amazing tales).

The story is simple: a kingdom on the verge of attack hires Hercules and his mercenaries to use his legend to scare off the invading army. Of course, there is a twist or two, including one that posits Hercules may have murdered his own family, but the real meat of the film comes from the interaction between Hercules and his “family.” The film is full of big action set-pieces, but some of the quiter moments between characters and getting a glimpse into their loyalty to each other sets this film apart from some of the others. Ratner also handles the action scenes with great skill, actually allowing the audience to see the battles full frame, not in maddening, hand-held close-ups. Dante Spinotti’s cinematography is also gorgeous, and even though there is quite a bit of CGI, it’s used mostly to add scenery and bodies for scale rather than to be the main focus of a shot.

Hercules is a much better film than I expected, and I would have to say I enjoyed it more than my colleague Jeremy Fogelman, who reviewed the film upon its theatrical release. And now that the movie is available on home video, more people who didn’t want to risk a waste of time and money at the movies can enjoy the film in the comfort of their living rooms. And if you have a Blu-ray player, the experience will be even better (and I have to say that seeing this in 3D is the ultimate experience). The movie itself may not be great — although it is entertaining — but the Blu-ray presentation is simply spectacular.

After looking at two other films on Blu-ray this week, Paramount’s Hercules is the hands down winner for visual clarity (and the win comes over two titles from the usually reliable Warner Home Video). The Blu-ray captures Spinotti’s breath-taking visuals and when you watch the deleted scenes, you realize how much work went into the film’s overall look. It is stunning. The video image is sharp with no hint of graininess, even in the film’s many dark scenes. The movie was obviously shot with digital cameras but it always retains a film-like look. The disk’s 7.1 HD Master Audio is also extremely well-balanced. Even during the battle scenes, any dialog is still clearly audible. The music and sound effects never overpower the center channel. As Blu-rays go, this is one of the best as far as presentation. If you have a 3D set-up, the image is just as sharp and the 3D process is one of the best I’ve seen for a home video presentation, bringing depth to the screen and having many objects, from spears and arrows to drifting ash, extend far beyond the edge of the screen.

The Blu-ray also contains a host of bonus material:

• Commentary by Brett Ratner and Beau Flynn (theatrical version only)
• Brett Ratner and Dwayne Johnson: An Introduction (5:32) — The director and actor discuss their long-held desires to make a Hercules movie, and how a serious injury to Johnson nearly derailed the production.
• Hercules and His Mercenaries (11:07) — A behind the scenes look at the cast, rehearsals, training and production of the film.
• Weapons! (5:24) — A brief look at the various weapons used in the film. Fun fact: several actors refused to carry the rubber versions, preferring to feel the weight of the weapon while carrying them.
• The Bessi Battle (11:54) — In-depth look at all aspects of shooting the first battle scene from construction of the set (and most of the sets on screen are real with CGI augmentation) to training extras and applying full body makeup and tattoos to hundreds of extras. (Although they never discuss hiding Johnson’s massive tattoos.)
• The Effects of Hercules (12:28) — A look at how the visual effects artists combined on-set practical effects with their CGI magic.
• Deleted/Extended Scenes (14:38) — A collection of extended and deleted scenes, some unfinished and not color timed, that actually don’t seem superfluous.

The Blu-ray also contains the theatrical and extended versions of the film. I do have a slight complaint about these releases now that are calling themselves “extended.” Peter Jackson adding 25 minutes to his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies is an extended edition. Adding three minutes of footage is pushing the boundaries of what one could call “extended.” Hercules only contains about three minutes so the impact on the film overall is negligible. Aside from that, Hercules on Blu-ray is well-worth the purchase price if you enjoyed the movie on the big screen, and is certainly worth checking out if you had your doubts.

The Hercules Blu-ray was provided to CliqueClack by The Karpel Group/Paramount Home video for purpose of review.

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When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson began acting, with a mostly-CGI cameo in The Mummy 2: The Mummiest, any fans of him from his wrestler days thought that he’d become the next Schwarzenegger. With charisma oozing out of every pore and legitimate athleticism, it seemed a perfect fit. So first there was the The Scorpion King, which was very direct to DVD, but hey … it was his first starring movie. But after a few failed starts, Dwayne Johnson turned to kid’s movies, playing a modern day version of Hulk Hogan’s old incongruous one joke movies in The Tooth Fairy.  And then, it was a miracle when he showed up in Fast Five and immediately made every scene he was in interesting. After doing the in the GI Joe sequel and Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain, the old school Rock fans were saying “Finally, The Rock has come back to action movies!”

When Hercules was announced, it seemed like a great idea. The Rock vs mythological monsters? How could it fail? Then it was discovered that it would be based on a lesser known series of comics from Radical Comics called The Thracian Wars which had a far more realistic take on the story. Well, we thought, that might still work. The Rock could still smash heads in a grittier version of the classic tale. And then we found the director was Brett Ratner and we shuddered. After all, the guy hasn’t made a good movie since Rush Hour and to a lesser extent, Rush Hour 2. And then it was decided that the movie would be PG-13 and we said “C’mon, why are you making this so hard? We just want to see The Rock fight the Hydra already!” Well, I have some good news for you. You do get to see that. Sort of.

So Hercules starts as a narrator tells a shouty version of his legend, including showing a montage of him killing several big monsters. But then we discover it’s all a ploy; there are no monsters, just a very strong and talented mercenary who has been spreading the legend to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies and find lucrative paying jobs. Hercules is joined by a team of classic archetypes: the sarcastic sociopath Autolycus (named for the mythological son of Hermes, played by Rufus Sewell), mute animalistic Tydeus (named for a Trojan hero from The Iliad, played by Aksel Hennie), Amazonian archer Atalanta (named for mythological Greek virgin huntress, played by Ingrid Bolsø Berdal), and vague prophet Amphiaraus (actually a seer in Greek mythology, played by Ian McShane). Rounding them out is Iolaus, Hercules’ nephew, played by Reece Ritchie. Does each have a minor character arc? No? Are there at least almost character arcs? You betcha!

Okay, so Hercules (amusingly, the film translates his name from the Greek version, Heracles, but that’s Hollywood for you) has an arc, with a pretty serious and dark backstory. But although The Rock does his best to bring a bit of pathos and depth to the character’s history, the characterization is paper thin and pacing is all over the place. Unfortunately, Brett Ratner doesn’t do the best job here. This is a surprisingly violent film, considering that there is absolutely no blood or gore, yet there’s a bit of profanity and a single bared breast. It’s very weird to me, because it seems like it’s not really right for PG-13, yet it’s not nearly bloody enough to be rated R. But honestly, it should’ve been. That would’ve made the frequent fight scenes more believable and less cartoonish. Ah, but here is the real issue with the movie: it’s tone is inconsistent. It can’t figure out if it wants to be cartoonish and ridiculous or serious and hardcore. Instead, it has a bunch of fun fight scenes and a lot of boring scenes without fighting.

John Hurt plays the King of Thrace who hires Hercules and his band of mercs to take out the bandit leader Rhesus, and perhaps not everything is as it seems? And he also has a boring daughter, but she’s boring and pointless, forget her character. Instead, it’s the team that works almost entirely. They quip and riff off each other, and demonstrate killer efficiency in battle like Lord of the Rings superwarriors. I haven’t read the original graphic novel the movie is based on, so perhaps the story works better there. But here, it’s just a series of set pieces watching The Rock and company do some fun stuff. Sure, the take on it, that Hercules just uses his own legend for marketing purposes and isn’t really the son of Zeus is a cool idea, but that’s really the only original idea here. Everything else is very paint by numbers and exactly what you’d expect. Every single twist (by which I mean two of them) are very obvious the instant you think about them.

In summation, this isn’t a great movie, but it’s fun enough. You can ignore the tiresome attempts at being serious and just appreciate The Rock yelling, smirking, and kicking ass. Oh, and you get to see him punch a horse. For some, that may just be worth the price of admission.

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All passes have been claimed. Please follow CliqueClack on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr for contest alerts, reviews and breaking news.

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures to offer readers in the Cleveland area an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new action movie Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes and John Hurt.

Both man and myth, Hercules (Johnson) leads a band of mercenaries to help end a bloody civil war in the land of Thrace and return the rightful king to his throne. A tormented soul from birth, Hercules has the strength of a God but feels the suffering of a human. Unimaginable villains will test the mythical power of Hercules in director Brett Ratner’s gritty take on one of the most epic action heroes of the ages.

The screenings will take place on Thursday, July 24, 6:00 PM at Regal Richmond Town Square.

A limited number of passes are available on a first come, first served basis. To be eligible, please read and follow the directions.

• Comment on this post.
• Include your FULL NAME (First and Last) and email address on the entry form (NOT in the comment box!). Double check your email address before submitting. If your email address is misspelled, you will not receive passes should your entry be selected.
• ONE entry per person/per email address will be accepted. CliqueClack has the right to discard any duplicates or comments that appear to be duplicates. Multiple comments from a single person will result in complete disqualification. As this is not a random drawing, only one person per couple needs to comment. Keep these offers fair for everyone!

The first 20 verified comments will receive a unique GoFoBo code by email good for up to two Admit One passes. Please note that passes do not guarantee seats at the screening. Seating is first come, first served so plan to arrive early. CliqueClack has no control over the total number of passes distributed, and is not responsible for seating arrangements at the theater.

Have a look at the trailer below and then tell us you want to see the film. Hercules opens in theaters July 25.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoQ3aXvP-2s