HERCULES
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(Disney) Voices: Tate Donovan, James Woods, Danny DeVito, Susan Egan, Rip Torn, Joshua Keaton, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Frewer. Screenplay: Ron Clements & John Musker, Bob Shaw & Donald McEnery and Irene Mecchi. Producers: Alice Dewey and Ron Clements & John Musker. Directors: Ron Clements & John Musker. MPAA Rating: G. Running Time: 90 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Over the past few years, while most studio event films were growing bigger, louder and dumber, the folks at Disney were doing something terribly underhanded with their animated features. Like cereal makers injecting twelve essential vitamins and minerals into our Frosted Sugar Bombs, they were slipping competent story-telling into our entertainment. In films like POCAHONTAS, TOY STORY and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, the Mouse gave our unsuspecting children reason to expect thematic depth, complex villains and appealing heroes even while they were being amused and dazzled.
It's all terribly insidious, this raising of expectations, and not just for audiences. Expectations in the Disney boardroom were raised by the $530 million in domestic grosses racked up by ALADDIN and THE LION KING, making the mere $140 million for POCAHONTAS and $100 million for HUNCHBACK look like chump change. Perhaps, Uncle Walt's successors may have concluded, audiences would rather eat a salad when they want their twelve essential vitamins and minerals.
All this being prologue to the observation that HERCULES, a frisky and energetic offering from directors John Musker and Ron Clements (who helped revive the moribund Disney animation empire with the frisky and energetic THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN), is merely a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It's a typically Disney-loose version of the Greek myth of Hercules (right down to giving him the Roman name rather than the Greek Heracles) in which the young hero (Tate Donovan) must prove his mettle by foiling the evil plans of Hades (James Woods), lord of the underworld. Assistance comes in the form of a hero-training satyr named Phil (Danny DeVito); trouble comes in the form of a tough-talking woman named Meg (Susan Egan) who may or may not be on Herc's side; comic relief comes in the form of Hades' two inept assistants, Pain (Bobcat Goldthwait) and Panic (Matt Frewer).
No trouble so far...in fact, there's quite a bit to recommend HERCULES. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, who acted as production designer, gives HERCULES a distinct look full of sharp angles and stylized characterizations which separates it from other recent Disney efforts. There are a couple of very catchy tunes by Disney stalwart Alan Menken and new lyricist David Zippel, including a wonderful Brill Building-style love song called "I Won't Say." Musker and Clements also trot out the kind of pop culture references which worked so well in ALADDIN, including quotes of THE KARATE KID, MIDNIGHT COWBOY and THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH as well as some deft satire of over-saturated merchandising.
If HERCULES had come up with a heart to match its art, it might have been deserving of that "masterpiece" label Disney affixes indiscriminately to its animated features. It starts out with promise, presenting the adolescent Hercules (voiced by Joshua Keaton and perfectly rendered as a gawky jumble of massive hands and feet) as the quintessential teen-age outsider. The arc of his character takes him, as one song title describes it, from "Zero to Hero," but the screenwriting team isn't interested in digging into how he deals with his fame, or how he is chastened by his failures. It's not exactly a redemption story, not exactly a quest story, and not exactly a love story. It is, quite simply, a cartoon.
The fact that there's anything remotely dismissive about that term shows how far Disney has raised the bar on animated film-making. Even HERCULES, which comes up short in defining its hero, delivers complex supporting characters like Meg (a superb vocal performance by Susan Egan) with real emotions. After recent Disney triumphs, however, we know that more is possible. Children will probably be more delighted by HERCULES than by the darker HUNCHBACK, and adults will probably enjoy James Woods' oily wheeler-dealer manner as Hades (we all knew that the devil was really an agent). HERCULES is one of the better entertainments of the summer, a big tasty bowl of Frosted Sugar Bombs. If you want your vitamins this time, you'll have to order a side salad with that.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 Grecian formulas: 7.
Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~srenshaw Subscribe to receive reviews directly via email
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