Voices of James Woods, Susan Egan, Danny DeVito, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Frewer, Rip Torn and Paul Schaefer. Directed by John Musker, Ron Clements.
Disney's Aladdin team bring the myth of Hercules to the screen with plenty of changes to the original myth. Hercules here is born not as the illegimate son of Zeus (Torn), but as the bundle of joy of Zeus and his wife. Hades (Woods) has recently been banished to the underworld and is none too pleased. He has hatched a plan to take over the world, but the fates tell him that he will succeed only if Hercules does not fight. Hades then has his minions Panic and Pain (Frewer and Goldthwait) kidnap baby Hercules, feed him a potion to make him a mortal, but only enough potion that makes him a mortal left with superhuman strength. While on earth, Hercules is shunned as a freak, and longs to be normal. His adoptive parents tell him who he is, and he then climbs Mt. Olympus to seek his father Zeus. Zeus says he can become a god again, only if he becomes a hero. He then enlists the help of master hero trainer Phil (DeVito) to help him become a hero. But when Hades discovers Hercules is still alive and a potential problem, he enlists a young women he has under his control Megara, (Egan) Meg for short, to seduce Hercules and become his undoing. You can guess the rest. Go ahead.
Some have suggested this is up there with Disney's best. It isn't. Aladdin, Lion King and especially Beauty and the Beast are superior, not even mentioning the Disney films from the 30's and 40's. Last year's Hunchback of Notre Dame was a pretty good film, but it paled in comparison to these. But Hercules does have its excellent moments. Hades is a classic villain. Woods plays him as a sleazy Hollywood agent and is great. He gets the best lines, and Woods knows how to milk them. The movie is a lot of fun when he's around. Meg is enjoyable as the once burned woman cynical about love, who is melted by Hercules' charms. Phil has his moments. And a Greek Chorus is used for great effect to illustrate the background to the story and at interesting points throughout the film. But the rest of the characters, especially Hercules, are mostly bland and not at all memorable. Plus, the initial treatment of Hercules the hero as celebrity star with his own merchandise and ridiculously opulent mansion was too much, too modern. At least the message by the end of the film was emphasized - being famous isn't the same as being a true hero. And the number of sappy moments are high, even by Disney standards. But Hercules is a lot of fun, and worth seeing.
