After Almost 40 years of trial and error, there is FINALLY a GOOD Hercules Movie.

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2018)

Rating: 71%. Let's start this review by giving you a little background information, but give you the abridged version. The mythology of Hercules started in Ancient Greece/Rome and has been told through generations and generations of people. Heracles to the Ancient Greeks (but were just going to call this hero Hercules for simplicity) is most known for his immense brute like strength; saving cities and wrestling very powerful animals like lions, as well as fighting other powerful god like villains like Hades (who were going to talk about a little later in this review) and emerging victorious. The original Hercules film adaptation was made back in 1958 starring American Bodybuilder Steve Reeves, which that movie spawned a sequel Hercules Unchained in 1959. Both of their main flaws was that it had very slow pacing although it was fairly accurate. Many more of these Hercules films kept spawning up over the years, especially Hercules (1983) starring Lou Ferrigno which was god awful, but I will get to that another day. Finally, Disney got their hands on this animated adaptation of Hercules in 1997. In my semi-professional well supported opinion, Disney was the one that understood the story right for the most part.
Unlike the other films that I previously mentioned and then some, this film introduces Hercules as an infant living in this place called Mt. Olympus (it is best described as a gated community in the clouds, almost like an exclusive country club for the gods). Hercules is the son of Zeus voiced by Rip "we're not hosting an intergalactic kegger" Torn (most known for Zed from one of my all time favorite movies Men in Black (also from the same year)). The other gods give Hercules a vigorously powerful blue and white horse with an attitude problem named Pegasus as his mode of transportation. We are then introduced to our main villain Hades, who threatens to take over the world. Hades who is voiced by James Woods (who was known for mostly animated work, especially playing himself on the show Family Guy), and his cohorts kidnap Hercules and leave him in the human world. As far as his cohorts are concerned, how can I best describe Hades' two assistants. They are incredibly stupid and moronic miniature devils that are always screwing up the simplest of directions. For an example, they were supposed to make Hercules "sleep with the fishes" as requested by Hades, but they slip up and let people take him away. I'm just going to refer to those devils as Lenny and Squiggy, (both names referencing characters from the show Laverne and Shirley). The one I call Lenny is the blue devil that is taller and thin, the one I call Squiggy is the red devil that is shorter and fat.
As Hercules grows up, although classified as a demigod, the townsfolk ridicule and dishonor him as a misunderstood outcast, instead of worshipping him as a cape-less hero for his god like talents and efforts. The Pot Maker (which is much better than how it sounds) who was voiced by Wayne Knight (thats right, he was in Jurassic Park as well as Newman from Seinfeld) threatens him for accidentally destroying his store and tells him to leave immediately. As he is far away from town, he encounters this irascible retired Satyr named Phil who was voiced by Danny DeVito (Batman Returns, Taxi, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, etc), who reluctantly trains Hercules to be the hero people see him today. After he completes his training, he goes down to the swamp to fight against a half horse half brute like animal just to rescue our damsel in distress named Meg. This dependent damsel in distress is what I would describe as a Spartan version of Jessica Rabbit (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as far as body structure and most importantly attitude go. This back stabber works for Hades to assists him to stop Hercules.
Later on in the film, while Hercules is starting to have feelings for Meg, (although he does not realize that he is being betrayed on every twist and turn), Hades frees the world destroying Titans (NOT THE FOOTBALL TEAM FROM TENNESSEE!!!) from the prison held in by the gods, in order to assist him in (once again) taking over the world. Hercules does ultimately save the gods, especially Zeus and does destroy Hades by throwing him into a "pool" of the undead.
I first saw this movie in theaters back in 1997 (I was 3 years old at the time). Approximately 20 years later I watched it again, this time on Netflix and had just as much enjoyment out of that experience as I did when I first saw it when it came out. With that being said, I honestly have to say that this film is good for both kids and young adults, but now that I am a young adult I can pick up flaws with this movie, (we will get to them later). I will list off some pros and cons with this movie.
Pros: 1: This movie has a much bigger, as well as a more wisely spend budget compared to it's predecessors. The visuals and scenery look much more scenic than Hercules or Hercules Unchained. It has a bigger more talented cast and crew than most. Bigger budget USUALLY means more leeway to be able to execute your movie the way you want, this film here does not look cheap and quaint.
2: The Villian. Hades is considered to be one of the last great villains of Disney and he seriously was the one that really stole this movie. Besides Syndrome from The Incredibles, I have never smiled, laughed, or even respected the villain of any movie with the exception of Hades. Hades was supposed to talk very slow, have a demonic voice and sound more like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises (but it would be hard to understand every word said). Instead they filled that role with James Woods who is a very fast talker who can deliver lines with much more enthusiasm than most of the cast, and was also able to improvise a percentage of his lines.
3: The Pace. This film actually kept me interested and awake, in contrast to the Hercules films from the 1950s which were very boring and always put me to sleep. The fight scenes were much faster and designed better, than in the older films where their fight choreography was subpar next to a high school play production. The Hydra does not look silly, stupid and laughable; but instead looks intimidating and threatening... UNLIKE THOSE OTHER FILMS!!!
Cons: 1: The music. I'm sorry to say this, but when I think Hercules, I do not think of the word musical. I never thought to myself "I want to watch a really good musical, I'll choose Hercules". Hercules is most definitely an animated action film. I have always fast forwarded and or muted through the musical bits and pieces. Honestly, for the singers at the very beginning of the movie, they could have chosen James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Barry White etc.
2: The Role of Hercules: Honestly, Tate Donovan is not bad, but if I was going to fill in the voice of one of the most powerful heroes of all time, it has to be an original tough guy. Better choices would have been... Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston, Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, or hell maybe bring Steve Reeves who was the original Hercules back, he was still alive in 1997.
3: Those Devils: They were supposed to carry some comic relief but they failed miserably. They are very stupid and wacky, but not in a fun and interesting way, but rather in a loathsome and irritating way. These cretins were the equivalent of running nails on a chalkboard. Despicable little creatures that serve no purpose and more importantly no humor LIKE THEY WERE DESIGNED TO.
Anyway overall very good movie, and I recommend it to people that like to watch a good Hercules movie, to the Hercules fan out there, this is definitely their cup of tea.