Hercules 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: The point of leaving the Rock behind was to keep Johnson out of stuff like this and to take more risks, like the juiced-up idiot crook he played in Pain & Gain. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: The mythical Greek strongman gets a refreshingly human spin in Brett Ratner's grandly scaled, solidly entertaining popcorn pic. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: A scaled down club-and-sandals movie with a good ratio of scenery-chewing to choppy-shutter-angle skull-cracking. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: Give "Hercules" this much: It knows what it is. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Pulpy, self-consciously subversive, above-average summer entertainment ... Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Ratner's sense of humor is never clever, or light, and I've hated my share of his earlier films, but not this one. Read more

Jeff Labrecque, Entertainment Weekly: Hercules might seem like the perfect role for The Rock, but the movie really needs a better Dwayne Johnson. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: There's just enough plot to keep the movie lurching forward, and there are plenty of battle scenes to delight connoisseurs of carnage. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: The results are canny, fast-paced, and, for what the film attempts to accomplish, enjoyable. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Hercules" heaves and grunts along, interrupted by battle scenes that are visually impressive (when's the last time you saw someone pick up a horse and throw it?) but emotionally uninvolving. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Fast-paced, funny, and packed with - to indulge in a bit of ad-speak -eye-popping action. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: The movie is plagued by a split identity: It's half-slog, half-Mel Brooks. Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: The battle scenes, though rousing, fall short of epic. But it's reliably fun to watch - up until the brutish, smudgy conclusion ... Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A big-budget misfire of a sizeable order, a visually busy but emotionally dead endeavor that wearies the viewer with endless computer generated special effects while failing to provide a scintilla of human interest. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Everything Guardians of the Galaxy gets right with its mix of action and comedy, Hercules botches. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Dwayne Johnson, perhaps the only actor around who can look superhuman and self-deprecating at once, wears the title role like a custom tailored lion skin. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: A surprisingly satisfying blend of action, adventure and swift plotting. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Strap on your swordbelt, buckle your sandals and oil up your rippling six-pack, because here comes yet another interminable, CGI-drenched mythic mish-mash with far more money than brain cells. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Johnson was born for this kind of kick-butt-with-a-smirk role. In one scene, he appears to throw a charging horse over his shoulder, and it somehow doesn't look hokey. Read more

Sherilyn Connelly, Village Voice: The story is fairly straightforward, and, more importantly, so is much of the action. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Hercules has no right to be as entertaining as it is. Read more

John DeFore, Washington Post: It simply fails to exploit its assets: an amusing, revisionist take on the mythological strongman, and the charisma of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Read more