HERCULES
A film review by Phil Brady
Copyright 1997 Phil Brady
Well, I had ducked both Pocohantas and The Lion King, so continued U.S. citizenship required that I go see the latest Disney animation, Hercules. Not that I wasn't looking forward to it..the promos made it clear that this was much lighter fare than recent Mouse droppings. And a happy film it is. An opening scan of Grecian urns is accompanied by the grave tones of a Charlton Heston voiceover, but before he gets into it, he is interrupted. "Too boring!", says a group of Muses, stepping down from their picture on an urn. Graciously, Chuck accedes to our new narrators, who form a rockin' Greek chorus (and anyone who's seen The Little Shop of Horrors can tell you: hip black chicks make the very best Greek choruses).
The basic story is normal for this franchise: coming-of-age for a not-so-typical youth. Greek mythology meets Damn Yankees is the high-concept blurb. Herc's quest to become a hero and return to Olympus is thwarted by the plotting Hades and Meg(ara), but you can see Joe, Mr. Applegate and Lola quite clearly. Meg works for Hades, in a standard seduction/soul-acquisition gig, but as she brings down Hercules, she falls in love with him. With apologies to Ray Walston, James Woods makes a much funnier Hades. Memorable for playing many jittery, dangerous heavies, Jimmy's real persona is funny, and very close to the Hades character, and Hades is played as a stand-up comic trying to take over the universe. "What is this, a crowd or a mosaic?", he asks when his opening joke bombs. His sarcastic exasperations over his minions' failures are very funny, and it's nice to see that Bobcat Goldthwait has found his niche, as a wretched goblin in service to Hades.
Additional casting gems are Danny DeVito as a not-so-Yoda mentor to young Hercules, and Rip Torn as Zeus. The movie makes a parody of its own genre, showing merchandising run rampant when Hercules becomes famous. When Zeus tells Herc that he isn't a hero yet, he protests: "But I'm an action-figure!" Priceless is a scene where an incredulous Hades notices that Bobcat is wearing "Herc-Air" sandals. Can't say much about the music, though. It gets us from this scene to that scene, but all of it was forgotten ten seconds later. They shoulda stolen some of the Damn Yankees' music, too. The designated single, "Go the Distance," meanders around, bumping into things. Michael Bolton does a cover over the closing credits, but methinks the coast is clear for a non-Disney Oscar in the music category.
Hercules was a very enjoyable film, and although I didn't leave the theater humming the music, I can sing its praises.
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