Go The Distance - Hercules

35 – Hercules

After the ridiculously dark Hunchback of Notre Dame, it's almost jarring watching the lighthearted 1997 movie Hercules. The story is about a young boy who feels like he doesn't belong anywhere. Also he has superhuman strength. He finds out that he is actually a son of Zeus but was taken away from Mount Olympus and made a mortal (that's A mortal, not immortal). To take his rightful place in Mount Olympus he needs to prove that he is a true hero which will make him a full god again.

The young boy, Hercules, is outcast by his society and decides to find out who he really is and where he belongs. When Zeus tells him his goal, it's really great to see him actually work for it and change from a scrawny and clumsy guy to a real hero, who is also clumsy sometimes. He is really determined and a bit naïve but it really reflects his simplistic idea of heroism and his, almost single-minded, attempts to become a hero. He really reminds me of Superman in a lot of ways (which I'm sure is a comparison that has never been made before). Superman isn't a hero because he has powers but because he would be willing to help people even if he didn't have those powers.

The person, or satyr, that Hercules gets to help him is Philoctetes, or Phil. Phil very reluctantly takes Hercules as a student since he has put his faith in too many heroes that let him down. He has a pretty serious and gruff personality but does his best to teach Hercules as best he can. He gave up on his dreams because of those failures and Hercules is his last chance to make a true hero. It's really clear that he grows to care about Hercules beyond that and really wants to look out for him.

Megara, or Meg, appears as a woman that Hercules saves and falls for. She actually turns out to be a woman who sold her soul to Hades, God of the Underworld, to bring back her lover from the dead only for him to run off with another woman. This leads her to become pretty guarded about who she trusts. She's also very independent and likes to take care of herself. Hades then uses her to get close to Hercules to spy on him and find out if he has any weaknesses. Needless to say, this hurts Hercules a lot when he finds out. It's interesting to see a Disney heroine not only not look for love but actively avoiding falling in love. It's interesting and it makes it better when she does finally admit that she loves Hercules.

Hades is very different from his Greek legend origins but they needed a villain and he's the most logical choice. His big plan revolves around releasing the Titans that Zeus defeated to take back Olympus. He gets a prophecy from the three Fates that he will succeed unless Hercules manages to stop him. This causes him to kidnap Hercules as a baby and make him a mortal so that his minions, Pain and Panic, can kill him. They fail and Hercules ends up getting adopted by two mortal humans. When he finds out that Hercules is still alive he throws everything he possibly can at him but gets defeated at every turn. He finally finds out that Hercules' biggest weakness is Meg herself so he offers him her freedom for Hercules to be powerless for 24 hours. He's a really interesting take on a villain. He talks very fast and is actually quite cowardly but he has tons of resources and is very smart. James Woods did a really good job making Hades feel almost more sleazy than villainous at times, which really works for this character. He does, however, have these moments of extreme anger that definitely push him more to villainous.

On top of these characters there is Zeus, God of Mount Olympus. He's basically the one that gives Hercules his mission to become a true hero and thus become a god. He also made Pegasus, Hercules' best friend who helps him out on his adventure. Pegasus was mostly there for comic relief but I didn't mind him because he helped so much and the jokes actually fit the tone of the movie. Hades' minions Pain and Panic were definitely more annoying but I didn't mind them that much either since they were really involved with the story. The Muses are the narrators of the story and they are fantastic. They sing all of their narration in these great Gospel/Soul inspired music that is so different from what you'd expect in a movie about ancient Greece.

This movie's greatest asset is it's style. The character designs are really interesting and different from other Disney movies, being inspired by Greek art. The Music, as I mentioned before, is really great. Every sequence moved the story forward and really kept the tone of the movie going. I never felt like they played a sequence just for laughs. There are tons of pop culture references and modern day comparisons like the City of Thebes being similar to modern day New York City. Those little references were fun and just added to the really cool anachronistic style the movie has. The whole movie is just way more lighthearted than The Hunchback of Notre Dame which really benefits it. This movie could have been really boring if they played it like a normal Greek Tragedy. If there was any problem, it's that there really wasn't a ton of action. The movie isn't really as visually spectacular in that way like Hunchback or Aladdin.

I also wish that Hercules' adoptive parents could have shown up more. They really seemed like they were important to each other but they sort of dropped off the face of the earth after Hercules leaves to become a hero. They also kind of took the easy way out choosing Hades as the villain. The third act of the movie is also pretty weak. Hercules loses his power only to get it back pretty quickly and defeats the Titans with basically no problem. The whole final act just feels a bit disjointed. I wish they could have tied Meg getting hurt for Hercules, Hercules fighting the Titans and Hercules saving Meg from the underworld to become a God a bit better. Compared to Hunchback, however, they tied the love story of Meg and Hercules together way better. It actually matters in the context of the story that they love each other since it creates a weakness for Hades to exploit. They really explored the concept of being a hero well too. The whole story is Hercules trying to become a hero but he only really becomes one when he's not thinking about that and sacrifices himself for the sake of someone he loves.

Overall, the movie is super stylish while being a creative and refreshing take on ancient Greek stories. It's in no way accurate to those stories but it's a fun movie that tries to figure out what being a hero really is. It's not as ambitious as The Hunchback of Notre Dame but they definitely tried to make Hercules have a unique voice. It might be more style than substance, sure, but I think this movie really feels like it has more heart (and definitely more soul) than Hunchback.

35 down. 18 to go.