disney 's 35th animated feature-- a retooling of the olympian legend crossed with , well , the superman story-- is surprisingly soft at the center .
great wit , great art , and a great villain
( james woods as hades , lord of the underworld and local lounge act ) ca n't quite stifle the yawns induced by a bland hero , his colorfully monotonous sidekick ( danny devito as the satyrical trainer phil ) , and a largely unremarkable soundtrack .
( none of the alan menken / david zippel tunes are
particular- ly noteworthy .
some lack lyrical snap .
others need more memorable melodies .
boring ballads we expect , but boring production numbers , too ? )
so , hercules is a bit of a long sit , but you wo n't stay bored .
the highlights include a nifty round of animated action ( herc battling a cgi hydra ) , a steady stream of anachronisms
( " somebody call ix - i - i " ) and pop references ( " let 's get ready to rumble !
" ) a la aladdin , and several long - overdue jabs at the mouse 's marketing and merchandising depart- ments .
while not as rock - solid as hunchback , it 's a still a new world of improvement over pocohontas .
directed by ron clements and john musker , with voice credits including tate donovan , susan egan , bob goldthwait , matt frewer , samantha eggar , paul shaffer , and , as lighting bolt zeus , rip torn , who 's having a very good summer , also appearing in trial and error and men in black .
a nifty round of animated action steady stream of anachronisms a new world of improvement you wo n't stay bored great wit , great art , and a great villain