Review: "The Legend of Hercules" is Tolerable

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Legend of Hercules (2014)
Running time:  99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 sequences of intense combat action and violence, and for some sensuality
DIRECTOR:  Renny Harlin
WRITERS:  Sean Hood and Daniel Giat
PRODUCERS:  Boaz Davidson, Renny Harlin, Danny Lerner, and Les Weldon
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Sam McCurdy
EDITOR:  Vincent Tabaillon
COMPOSER:  Tuomas Kantelinen

FANTASY/ACTION

Starring:  Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins, Roxanne McKee, Liam Garrigan, Liam McIntyre, Rade Serbedzija, and Johnathon Schaech

The Legend of Hercules is a 2014 action-fantasy film from director Renny Harlin.  This movie is based on mythical Greek hero, Hercules.  It offers a new origin story of Hercules and finds him learning to embrace his destiny, as he fights a brutal king.  Although they do not receive credit on screen, director Renny Harlin and Giulio Steve apparently co-wrote the screenplay for The Legend of Hercules, along with credited writers, Sean Hood and Daniel Giat.

The Legend of Hercules opens in 1220 B.C. in the nation of Argos in Southern Greece.  King Amphitryon of Tiryns (Scott Adkins) leads his army in a bid to conquer Argos and to defeat its king, Galenus.  Queen Alcmene of Tiryns (Roxanne McKee), disgusted by her husband’s warmongering, begs the gods for guidance.  The goddess Hera sends a message that Alcmene will give birth to the son of the god, Zeus, and that this son will be the savior of her people.

Alcmene gives birth to a child that Amphitryon names Alcides, but that the Queen names Hercules.  Hercules (Kellan Lutz) grows into a strong young man, and he falls in love with Hebe (Gaia Weiss), daughter of the King of Crete.  That love turns Hercules into an exile.  Now, the half-human and half-god young hero must use his formidable power to fight his way back to Tiryns in order to save Hebe and his kingdom.

Hmm… What to say?  I did enjoy some of The Legend of Hercules, but the best word to describe it is “mediocre.”  It is one of those sword-and-sandal movies (like the 2004 film, Troy) that would work better as a sword-and-sorcery film (the Conan movies).  Like 2004’s Troy, The Legend of Hercules drains the myth of its magic (although not quite as much or as badly as Troy did), and the movie clearly suffers for it.

The acting is bad.  Kellan Lutz, best known for his role in the Twilight film franchise, is pretty bad here.  He looks like someone took one of those overly muscular G.I. Joe dolls and gave it action figure steroids.  I swear you can see the stretch marks on Lutz’s bulging muscles, as if his workouts have tortured his skin.  The poor acting exception is Liam McIntyre; as Hercules’ cohort, Captain Sotiris, McIntyre gives a performance that is good enough to make it stand out from the rest of cast, which seems to sleepwalk or shuffle through this film.  [Well, Scott Adkins eagerly throws himself into overacting as King Amphitryon.]

So if you want to watch action-fantasy with sword-fighting, battles, and Greek heroes, The Legend of Hercules will do.  At least, it is not puffed up with pomposity, superiority, and pride like Warner Bros. 300 film franchise.

4 of 10
C

Friday, May 09, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Deep Blue Sea" is a Good Shark Movie (Happy B'day, LL Cool J)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Running time:  105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic shark attacks, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Renny Harlin
WRITERS:  Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, and Wayne Powers
PRODUCERS:  Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, Don MacBain, and Alan Riche
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Stephen Windon
EDITORS:  Derek G. Brechin, Dallas S. Puett, and Frank J. Urioste
COMPOSER:  Trevor Rabin

THRILLER/SCI-FI/HORROR

Starring:  Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, Jacqueline McKenzie, Aida Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson

The subject of this movie review is Deep Blue Sea, a 1999 science fiction thriller and horror film from director Renny Harlin.  The film takes place on an isolated, sea-based research facility where a group of scientists find themselves being hunted by a trio of intelligent sharks.

On an isolated underwater research facility, a group of scientists search for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease using Mako sharks.  Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) and Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgard) have illegally used genetic engineering to make the sharks’ brains bigger.  When Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson), the businessman who funds the disease research, arrives at the facility, the sharks are already bigger, faster, and more aggressive.

During a severe storm, the scientists celebrate their success.  However, the intelligent sharks take advantage of the storm to make an attack upon the facility that causes it to begin sinking.  A shark wrangler, Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), and the facility’s cook, Preacher (James T. Smith/LL Cool J), lead a group of survivors in a race to reach the surface while the facility quickly floods.  The sharks also gain entrance to the facility and hunt the fleeing humans.

Directed by Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight), Deep Blue Sea is a cat and mouse game in which the characters run an obstacle course to save their lives.  Harlin and the film’s writers continually drop trouble in the lap of the cast, who must use every resource at hand to save themselves.  Deep Blue Sea is not Jaws.  While the latter remains a powerful suspense thriller, the former is a quite effective edge-of-your-seat action movie.  Harlin has a knack for taking what could have been only pedestrian material and making good, light entertainment.

The cast is quite good, and LL Cool J adds a touch of humor to the film as Preacher.  Thomas Jane’s Blake and Cool J’s Preacher are the characters with whom we identify and attach ourselves.  One is the stoic, tough action guy and the other is funny man who keeps the show from getting too serious.  Samuel L Jackson is once again the actor who brings an air of seriousness in a performance that is quite good and that sets the tone for the film.  Much of the cast is shark fodder, but each one is determined to give a solid performance.  Deep Blue Sea is quite a bit of fun and stands up to repeated viewings.  It won’t be remembered as a cinematic classic, but it is a good time.  Quite a few action films try to be that and fail, but Deep Blue Sea delivers.

6 of 10
B

NOTE:
2000 Image Awards:  1 nomination:  “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (LL Cool J)

Updated:  Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "The Covenant" a Poorly Cast Spell

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 194 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Covenant (2006)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity, and language
DIRECTOR:  Renny Harlin
WRITER:  J.S. Cardone
PRODUCERS:  Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Pierre Gill (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Nicolas De Toth
COMPOSER: tomandandy

HORROR/FANTASY/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring:  Steven Strait, Laura Ramsey, Sebastian Stan, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Matt Austin, Wendy Crewson, Robert Crooks, Steven Crowder, Larry Day, and Jessica Lucas

The subject of this movie review is The Covenant, a 2006 supernatural horror and action-fantasy film from director Renny Harlin.  The film follows four young men who belong to a supernatural legacy and are forced to battle a fifth power long thought to have died out.  The young men must also contend with is their jealousy and suspicion of one another, which threatens to tear their union apart.

In 1692, four families of the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts formed a covenant of silence to hide that they wielded The Power – what their fellow colonists identified as witchcraft.  Cut to the present: Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait), Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway), and Tyler Sims (Chace Crawford) are the Sons of Ipswich, the heirs to the bloodline of those four families.  They are bound by their sacred ancestry, and Caleb, as the oldest, is their de facto leader.  As minors, they possess only a fraction of The Power they will have as adults, but Caleb is just a few days from his 18th birthday when he will “ascend” and receive his full powers.

Caleb and the other sons are students at the elite Spencer Academy.  There are two new students.  The attractive blond, Sarah Wenham (Laura Ramsey), catches Caleb’s eye.  The raffish Chace Collins (Sebastian Stan) becomes a rival for the affections of Pogue’s girlfriend, Kate Tunney (Jessica Lucas).  High school puppy love and rivalries are put on hold when the body of a dead student is found in the local woods after an outdoor party (rave?).  Caleb and Pogue sense that one of their own is abusing his power, threatening to break the covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years.  And this mystery user is very powerful and also hunting Caleb and Sarah.

The Covenant is kind of like the 1987 film, The Lost Boys, jammed into The WB’s (now The CW’s) TV series, “One Tree Hill.”  Director Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Exorcist: The Beginning) is no stranger to cheesy horror flicks that have a few scary moments, and The Covenant is a cheesy horror flick with some genuine atmosphere, a few scary movie thrills, and an obnoxiously loud soundtrack and score.  The main problem with The Covenant is that it’s all surface – lots of pretty visuals.  In fact, Harlin focuses so much on how the film looks – with its bevy of sexy male leads and haunting Québec, Canada filming locations – that he never gets into the meat of the story.

I will grant that co-producer/writer J.S. Cardone’s script is top heavy with backstory, pre-history, and mythology, so Harlin has a lot of text and subtext to transform into a movie that holds the short attention spans of its intended audience.  (This probably would work better as a novel, or hey, even a television series on The CW.).  There is so much intriguing stuff left in the air, and Harlin only brushes on the characters enough to give the audience a nebulous idea about what’s going on.  Still, The Covenant is a faintly entertaining, half-assed popcorn flick.  It’s the kind of horror movie that will live a half-life in the limbo of video rentals – lucky to be an afterthought behind the good horror movies.

4 of 10
C

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Updated: Thursday, October 31, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.