''The Legend of Hercules'' is a 2014 American 3D

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

directed by

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola; 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood, Europe, and Cinema of China, China. His best-known film ...

, written by Daniel Giat and

Sean Hood Sean Hood (born August 13, 1966) is an American screenwriter and film director. Early life Hood graduated from Brown University, with a double major in pure mathematics and studio art, and then spent several years working in Hollywood as a set dr ...

, and starring

Kellan Lutz Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American actor, martial artist and model. He made his film debut in '' Stick It'' (2006), and is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). He has ...

Gaia Weiss Gaia Weiss (born 30 August 1991) is a French actress and model. Her filmography includes ''Mary Queen of Scots'' (2013), ''Vikings'' (2014–2015), '' Alien: Containment'' (2019), ''Meander'' (2020), '' La Révolution'' (2020), and ''Shepherd'' ( ...

Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), a ro ...

Roxanne McKee Roxanne McKee (born 10 August 1980) is a Canadian-born British actress. She is best known for playing Louise Summers in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2005–2008), Lou Foster in the BBC Three drama series '' Lip Service'' (2010), Dorea ...

, and

Liam Garrigan Liam Garrigan (born 1981) is an English actor. As a youth, he attended classes at Kingston upon Hull's Northern Theatre Company and was a student at Wyke College, Kingston upon Hull. His first television role was in 2003 as Characters of Holby ...

. It was distributed by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

and released January 10, 2014, six months before another Hollywood-studio

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

film,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

' and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

's co-production ''

''. ''The Legend of Hercules'' was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

and received universally negative reviews, unlike ''Hercules'', which was a financial success and opened to far stronger reviews.

Plot

In 1200 BC

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, King

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ...

Tiryns Tiryns ( or ; Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles was said to have performed his Twelve Labours. It ...

is conquering kingdoms in his thirst for more power, which disgusts his wife, Queen

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene ...

. She prays to

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

for guidance, and Hera's husband

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

impregnates Alcmene with the savior of her people, a demigod son to be named

. Amphitryon names his new "son" Alcides, though Alcmene secretly acknowledges his true name as Hercules. Twenty years later, Prince Alcides (Hercules) is the lover of Princess Hebe of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. Hercules and his older brother, Prince

Iphicles In Greek mythology, Iphicles ( or ; ''Iphiklēs''), also called Iphiclus, was the maternal half-twin brother of Heracles and one of the Calydonian boar hunters. Family Iphicles was the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amphitryon, wher ...

, are attacked by a unusually strong lion, which Hercules strangles to death. Iphicles takes the credit at a royal banquet, but Hebe sees right through this lie. At the banquet Amphitryon announces the engagement of Hebe and Iphicles, while Hercules is sent away to a military campaign in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Alcmene tells him of his true lineage and that his name is Hercules, not Alcides. Hercules joins the command of Captain Sotiris in the Egyptian desert; their small company faces an ambush by Amphitryon meant to eliminate Hercules, and only Alcides and Sotiris survive. Hercules uses his gods-given name to conceal his identity as the prince. The two are sold off as slaves to Lucius, a promoter of

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

style fights, where they excel. Hercules defeats six previously-undefeated gladiators in an arena battle in Greece, which motivates members of Amphitryon's army to desert it and join Hercules and Sotiris, beginning a fight against Amphitryon's campaign of tyranny. Amphitryon is forced to hire foreign mercenaries as a result. When Alcides does not return as promised, Alcmene and Hebe assume he is dead. When Alcmene seeks guidance from Hera, Amphitryon discovers her and learns the truth of Hercules' parentage and that he is fated to overthrow him. Amphitryon stabs Alcmene for her infidelity with her own dagger, which he hides as a suicide. Iphicles threatens Sotiris' son, forcing Sotiris to lead him to Hercules. Iphicles is surprised to discover that Hercules is Alcides. Hercules is chained and publicly flogged, then watches in horror as Iphicles murders Chiron, Alcmene's loyal adviser, under Amphitryon's orders. In anguish, he acknowledges Zeus as his father and calls upon him for strength. Hercules breaks free from his chains and kills Amphitryon's guard, though Amphitryon and Iphicles escape. Hercules and Sotiris raise an army and storm Amphitryon's palace. Amphitryon's palace guard joins Hercules and his army, and they battle Amphitryon's mercenaries. Hercules calls upon his father, who infuses his sword with the power of lightning. Hercules defeats the mercenaries with his lightning sword, then meets Amphitryon in personal combat. Hercules nearly defeats Amphitryon but Iphicles holds Hebe hostage and threatens to kill her if Hercules does not let Amphitryon go. Hercules hesitates, but Hebe thrusts the dagger through her shoulder, killing Iphicles. Hercules finally avenges Alcmene's death and kills Amphitryon with the same blade that killed his mother. Hercules rushes to Hebe's side as she slowly drifts into unconsciousness. Nearly a year later, the cries of a baby are heard; Hercules' and Hebe's son. That night, he watches over his kingdom, finally fulfilling his destiny.

Cast

(Alcides) *

as Hebe *

as King Amphitryon *

as Queen Alcmene *

Liam McIntyre Liam James McIntyre (born 8 February 1982) is an Australian actor, best known for playing the lead role on the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Vengeance'' and '' War of the Damned'' and as Mark Mardon / Weather Wizard on ''The Flash''. He ...

as Sotiris *

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors ...

Chiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's '' Sparrow'' (1993) before his breakout with starring roles in the black comedy thriller film ''The Doom Generat ...

as Tarak *

Luke Newberry Luke Newberry is an English actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading role in the drama television series ''In the Flesh (TV series), In the Flesh'' (2013–2014), which earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination. Early l ...

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

Jukka Hildén Jukka Henry Mikael Hildén (born 3 August 1980) is a Finnish television personality and member of the entertainment and stunt group the Dudesons. Personal life Jukka Hildén was married to Outi Haapasalmi in 2010 but they divorced in February 2 ...

as Creon *

Kenneth Cranham Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a British film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in '' Oliver!'' (1968), '' Up Pompeii'' (1971), '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988), '' Chocolat'' (1988), '' Layer ...

as Lucius *

Mariah Gale Mariah Gale (born c.1980) is a British actress of film, stage and television. Early life She was born in Australia to an Australian mother and British father, both architects. She grew up in her father's native United Kingdom. She studied at Univ ...

Kakia Kakia (, ) is the Greek goddess of vice and moral badness (presumably, sin or crime). She was depicted as a vain and heavily made-up woman dressed in revealing clothes, and was presented as the opposite of Arete, goddess of excellence and virtue. ...

Sarai Givaty Sarai Givaty-Luboschits (; ) is an Israeli actress, singer-songwriter, and model. As a musician, she is also known by her stage name ESH. Early life Born Sarai Givaty (or Givati) in Tiberias, Israel, and raised to an Israeli family of both Seph ...

as Saphirra * Dimiter Doichinov as King Galenus *

Spencer Wilding Spencer Lee Wilding (born 26 July 1972) is a Welsh actor and special creature performer. He is from Meliden in Denbighshire, north Wales. He has also had some success as a professional kickboxer and professional cruiser weight boxer. He was tr ...

as Humbaba *

Bashar Rahal Bashar Mounzer Rahal (, ; born 20 October 1974) is a Bulgarian actor. Life and career Early life Bashar Rahal was born in Dubai, UAE, the son of Lebanese father Mounzer Rahal and Bulgarian mother Mariana Rahal. His sister, Carla Rahal, also a ...

as Commander *

Richard Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is a British terrorist who perpetrated the failed shoe bombing attempt against a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid convert ...

as Archer

Reception

Critical response

''The Legend of Hercules'' received universally negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 5% based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 2.70/10, based on 82 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Cheap-looking, poorly acted, and dull, ''The Legend of Hercules'' is neither fun enough to qualify as an action movie nor absorbing enough to work on a dramatic level". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 22 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

s Mike McCahill gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "Harlin keeps it commendably brisk, and insists upon the primacy of flesh-and-blood performers duking it out on non-virtual sets, perhaps because his CGI is makeshift at best."

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; ; born September 5, 1986) is a Russian-American film critic, essayist, and columnist. He has worked as a staff film critic for ''The A.V. Club'' and written for Mubi.com and the ''Chicago Reader''. Vishnevets ...

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave it a D grade, writing, "While ''The Legend Of Hercules'' offers plenty for viewers who've acquired a taste for the fake and incompetent (not the least of which is the dialogue, which finds characters saying each other's names at the end of every other sentence), it's unlikely to please anyone who wants entertainment in the conventional sense."

Chris Stuckmann Christopher Michael Stuckmann (born April 15, 1988) is an American YouTuber, filmmaker, author, and film critic. As one of the most popular film critics on YouTube, Stuckmann has over 2 million subscribers and over 779 million views on the ...

gave the film a F grade, writing, "An obvious and blatant rip-off of ''

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...

'' and ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'' – much better movies – this film should be removed from theaters as soon as possible to avoid damaging the brains of people who have the misfortune of seeing it." ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

s Stephanie Zacharek wrote, "You could ask for more — an actual script, maybe? — but Harlin covers most of the basics. Or, perhaps more accurately, he leaves them uncovered." A.O. Scott of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said the film "delivers what it promises, which is muscular guys in skimpy clothes fighting and howling, as well as some large-scale digitally enhanced battle sequences."

Box office

''The Legend of Hercules'' grossed $8,868,318 in its opening weekend, ranking #3 in the domestic box office behind ''

Lone Survivor ''Lone Survivor'' is a 2013 American action drama film based on the 2007 nonfiction book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent ...

'' and '' Frozen''. As of March 9, 2014, the film has grossed $18.8 million domestically and an additional $42.4 million internationally for a worldwide total of $61.3 million, failing to make back the budget of $70 million.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of Hercules, The 2014 films 2014 3D films 2010s action adventure films 2010s fantasy adventure films 2010s fantasy action films American action adventure films American fantasy adventure films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Renny Harlin Films about Heracles Films set in the 12th century BC Films set in ancient Greece Films about gladiatorial combat Films shot in Bulgaria Nu Image films Lionsgate films Summit Entertainment films Lionsgate Canada films Films scored by Tuomas Kantelinen Films with screenplays by Sean Hood Films produced by Boaz Davidson 2010s American films English-language action adventure films English-language fantasy action films English-language fantasy adventure films