THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The 1990s is known as the Renaissance Era for Walt Disney Pictures as the studio due to back to back success of films they dropped every year from that decade. Because of how Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King are considered the holy trinity of this era, other films become underrated in the process. One of the best examples was Hercules.
PLOT
Based on the Greek legend, the 1997 animated film shows Zeus celebrate the birth of his firstborn. All of the gods are joyful of it except Hades, ruler of the Underworld. He plans to conquer Mount Olympus but fears that it might not payoff in the future. The Fates explain that within the next 18 years, he will succeed with his takeover unless Hercules intervenes. With this information given, he sends his only minions Pain and Panic to eliminate his immortality with a potion and murder the baby afterwards. They do give him the drink after abducting him but they fail to make him take every last drop because they almost got spotted by two humans, Ampithyron (Hal Holbrook) and Alcmene (Barbara Barrie). Because of the last drop not being drunk, Hercules lost his immortality but still had his godlike strength. When the baby grew up as a teenager, he was an outcast due to not controlling his strength. His foster parents do explain that he found him and gave him the necklace he had as a baby. This encourages to go find a place to belong. He goes to the temple of Zeus and meets his biological father for the first time. He does explain that he was taken from him and he can’t come home if he’s mortal. The only way to regain his godhood is if he becomes a true hero. With the ride of his winged horse Pegasus, he goes to be trained by the satyr Philoctetes, who is known for training heroes. Phil is reluctant to train him due to the past heroes not being able to earn a constellation in the sky. However, Zeus obliges him to do so after summoning a lightning bolt on him. When his training is complete, he grew to have a buff physique and appears to be ready for actual conflict. They first stop a River guardian centaur from harassing a woman named Megara. After defeating him, they go to Thebes, a city that has gone through various disasters daily. Meg however was supposed to convince the centaur to join Hades’ takeover because she is his servant. She originally sold her soul to him to save someone she loved, who would sadly leave her afterwards. When she explained that Hercules intervened, he is distraught that Pain & Panic failed long ago but continues his plot to kill him, due to still being mortal. When Hercules arrives to Thebes, he does receive skepticism from the locals but still moves forward to prove himself. He is tricked by Meg to save two children (Pain & Panic in disguise) only to encounter a Hydra. He does defeat the beast, which infuriates Hades. Monster after monster, the Demigod becomes famous and gains respect from the town. But Zeus explains that fame is different from being a ‘true’ hero, that his actions have to be selfless. At this point, Hades only has 24 hours to pull off his plot. He has Meg to figure out Herc’s weakness when spending time with him. Because she has grown romantic feelings for him, as he does for her, she doesn’t want to move forward with the plan, telling Hades he has no weakness. But the Lord of the Dead believes she is his weakness. Phil overheard this conversation and tries to warn Hercules what he saw, but he is so irritated of him due to his previous personal dislike, he hits him. When the satyr leaves, Hades appears and offers a deal: If he surrenders his powers for 24 hours, he can allow Meg free from her own contract, but the deal will be broken if she gets hurt. He ultimately agrees and quickly becomes as powerless as a human. Hades even chooses to share that Meg was his servant, which breaks the heart of the protagonist. He moves forward with his plan by freeing the Titans, infamously imprisoned by Zeus, to conquer Mount Olympus but sends a Cyclops to attack Thebes. Meg finds Phil to motivate Herc to defend himself. It works and the wonder boy to outsmart the one eyed Titan by blinding it with a flame and cause it to fall over a cliff by binding it’s legs. However, Meg saves the man he loves from a crashing pillar by pushing him aside so she can take the injury. This would break Hades’ deal and regain Herc’s strength but this would take her life. After he saves his father and helps him overpower the Titans, he goes to the Underworld and demands Meg to be resurrected. He makes his own offer by allowing to take Meg’s place to save her soul in the River Styx. Hades only agrees because he thinks he’ll die before he can get to her. This selfless act helps him regain his godhood and save the woman he loves. He even punches Hades into the River before leaving. Once he restores Meg’s soul, Zeus explains that his actions for her made him capable to go home. But the protagonist chooses to stay with her because he believes he belongs with her. His father agrees and the film ends with him having his own constellation.
THOUGHTS
Since I was born in the late 90s, Disney’s Renaissance Era were the movies I watched the most and this movie was no exception. And decades later, I still find such joy when viewing this even after the many times I’ve seen it before. Disney is always clever to have a unique interpretation of grin fairy tales in order to the main audience that is children, and it even works in this movie’s case of Greek mythology. That said history is the most complex and I think this interpretation paid off in the long run as it is self aware on what it’s trying to be: A fun story that still has somewhat respect to the source. Hercules stood out from the bunch because it is a smart way to show that you have to put yourself before others in order to be respected, and doing good deeds intentionally doesn’t get you that at all. Seeing that in the perspective of our titular lead is so fascinating to see because seeing his unintentional stubbornness disappear into compassion warms my heart and from the there, the message pays off. His goal wasn’t exactly to go home but to find where he belongs, and he found that with Meg. Choosing the woman he loves over immortality is honestly the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen compared to Disney’s many male protagonists. I also think both actors Tate Donovan and Josh Keaton succeed in expressing his innocence and determination through their voices. The song ‘Go the Distance’ is great to listen to because it expresses that if you work hard enough with all your passion, you’ll succeed. He may be the main character but there were other characters that kept the story as interesting as he did. Megara always made an impression on me because she was a different kind of damsel. She was antisocial at first approach because she was heartbroken and distanced herself from being hurt again. Her song “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” how afraid she is to admit she’s in love again because she doesn’t want to be hurt again, but can’t help but admit it’s real. However, her feelings for Hercules made her loving others again. It is aware that Disney’s female characters intervene to save the ones they love, but I find it rare that one would give up her life to do so. Because of that, she’s more heroic and selfless as that inspired Herc to do the same for her. I also think Susan Egan was great at displaying her quick-witted, sarcastic personality with her voice as well. Danny DeVito was without a doubt awesome playing Philoctetes because he was on point presenting him as someone who is mostly grouchy but deep down a supportive friend. He always made me laugh whenever he lost his cool. It is cool that he gets his own happy ending that Herc is the first hero of his training to get a constellation, getting his own acknowledgment as people shout “That’s Phil’s boy”. It’s honestly heartwarming to see because he just wanted his work to be noticed and it’s glad to see that it did. Zeus isn’t in the movie a lot but I felt like Rip Torn had such an interesting approach on him: He was all mighty but was always a jolly, fun-loving father in the end. You don’t get a lot of versions of this character portrayed, so it definitely worked out here. The Muses were a great choice to narrate the story as their gospel style of music were able to make it exciting throughout. It’s hard not to find joy when hearing ‘The Gospel Truth’ or ‘Zero to Hero’. The main reason I choose to watch this movie all the time is because of James Woods as Hades. Controversy aside, the man gives arguably an all time voice performance because he impressively made sadistic look charming. And because of that, he mostly gave me a laugh even when he’s supposed to be hot tempered. Even when he comes off persuasive or manipulative, you can’t help but be impressed on how he gets things done. Since he is still a villain, it’s even funnier when he meets his comeuppance. Bobcar Goldthwait and Matt Frewer were also standouts of their own playing Pain & Panic as they are hilarious being inefficient, clumsy and paranoid. The funniest scenes for me are whenever Hades takes out his anger on them. Considering Hades will be stuck in the River Styx for a while, it’s a relief for them to not deal with the god’s abuse for a while. Even though this is a movie that gets better every time, this one still has some flaws of its own. First off, it is smart of Hades to be rid of Hercules when he's young but if he has a potion to make a god mortal, why hasn't he tried this on other gods he'd consider a threat? He's expressed dislike on Zeus, so it blows my mind on how he hasn't tried to used it on him before. It is respectful of the gods to visit Zeus after baby Herc was born but don't they have responsibilities to the world? Hades admits how watching over the Underwolrd is a full time job so how did the others plan out to take time off of their duties to celebrate one's newborn? I mean that's pretty odd when you think about it. And why the hell are the Thebes civilians laughing at Hercules when he says he's a hero? He may have come off awkward but he showed up with a winged horse and an insignia of the gods on his belt. They can't be this dubious to someone offering help. I can believe that Hades had an idea where the Hydra was, but how did the town not know? They've been encountering numerous incidents in what sounds like a daily to them, so I feel like somebody should've known there was a monster hiding within walking distance. The scene where Hades flips out on Pain & Panic having Hercules' merchandise is the most hilarious part of the movie, but why would they have that around him? It's like they're asking for it. Also, monsters make sense to stop Hercules because it tests his strength, but how does he not think of using Meg until the last day? I mean if he's so desperate to eliminate a main threat, he should be trying other stuff besides more monsters. And lastly, I was livid on how Phil isn't specific to Herc on what he saw. He says Meg is a fraud but doesn't specifically say he saw her talk to Hades. Maybe it wouldn't work, but it shouldn't be hard trying. However, I guarantee that you'll still be loving this movie for what it is once ignoring these flaws. In short, Disney's Hercules will always stand out for being one of the most clever and fun films of the Renaissance Era. If you love Greek Mythology, than prepare to have a blast with this one.
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