Lesser Family Film

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2017)

Hercules is a Disney movie that doesn't quite reach greatness. When you look at some of the pieces, it seems like it should be memorable: Hades is one of the more entertaining villains and along with Pain and Panic offer some age-of-irony comic relief. Megara is one of the more interesting love interests in a children's film, coming off like a female James Cagney. The songs are fun, though not strong enough on their own to become hits. The obvious weak link is the central character, Hercules himself. There isn't enough character development to make us really care about anything that happens. He may as well be the nameless prince from Snow White for as much as we learn about him. I don't think his desire to become a god really connects with people-- many of us may have felt like we were out of place, but the whole goal of rejoining his immortal family just feels like the rich getting richer. It has some entertaining segments, and it has some boring segments, and overall is just an average animated feature.