The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
Green Book
Widows
The Walking Dead
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics Consensus: Fast-paced and packed with dozens of pop culture references, Hercules might not measure up with the true classics of the Disney pantheon, but it's still plenty of fun.
Critic Consensus: Fast-paced and packed with dozens of pop culture references, Hercules might not measure up with the true classics of the Disney pantheon, but it's still plenty of fun.
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (9) | DVD (5)
Kids will love Hercules. It's fast-paced, it's funny, and it has a very positive message. Adults will enjoy it as well, thanks to its animated artistry and sly wit.
[An] insipid, lifeless, animated feature.
Chock-full of celeb cameos, puns and contemporary camp, the movie is annoyingly hip.
This is a bright movie, in both senses of the word.
It's a winning tall tale, cleverly told and wonderfully voiced...
Another benchmark achievement for the Aladdin team of Musker and Clements.
One of [Disney's] more unique and outside the box animated adaptations.
'Hercules' may be second-tier Disney, but it's TOP second tier, not far behind the studio's best animated work.
[Blu-ray Review] Isn't one of the Mouse House's absolute best, but it is an astutely written entertainment with a keen aesthetic sense and a fun ensemble of characters. For Disney collectors, picking "Hercules" up is a no-brainer. Highly recommended.
...compiles pop-culture references and genre tropes that are not only crudely envisioned, but often downright contradictory to the story at hand.
The most flat-out childish film of the Disney Renaissance: this is both its great triumph and ultimately the reason that it's so hard to care about it all that much.
Amusing, yes. Fluffy, definitely. But with no more staying power than those Hercules action figures that were already resigned to Odd-Lot by last Christmas.
Now I know a lot of people are indifferent to this movie and either really love this movie or really hate it. Me personally I love it. For a couple reasons, first the villain, Hades is my favorite Disney villain ever and one of my alll time favorite villains, and that is mainly due to how James Woods plays him. He doesn't sound evil, I always thought he sounded like a lawyer or agent which I find kind of interesting. Next the animation, this film has probably the most colorful and interesting animation I've seen in a Disney film, which is understandable seeing how the animation was lead and handled by Gerald Scarfe who did the animation for Pink Floyd's the Wall and he does a fantastic job at doing this animation, my favorite being his design of the Hydra in the film. Also I really do enjoy the music and comedy in the film for as weird as the musical choice of Gospel is for a movie about ancient greece.
Super Reviewer
Disney saw another franchise opportunity in Greek myth and, using cues learned from pop culture quick riff artist Robin Williams in Aladdin, endeavors to set it off, borrowing heavily from the Superman origin tale. Insert random love interest and voila! Character actors James Woods and Danny DeVito very nearly move the light idea into heavyweight contender status. Entertaining but often too strident.
It is irritating enough that they alter most of the original legend just for the sake of doing so, but the real problem here is that the jokes and pop references to modern times and American culture are far from smart and get tired fast, with the third act being a silly, unexciting mess.
"Hercules (1997)" is a very fun kids film that get's pretty dark and mysterious at times, and is also very bright and colourful family fun. Having all of these elements and being able to do them well is definitely an accomplishment, so just leave it to the team at Disney to do it. This film is ultimately about love and strength and both ideologies are represented very well here. Although the films premise dwindles from it's core every now and then, it still makes for a very entertaining and well-written Disney film. It is not among Disney's best, but it is one of the most fun. "Hercules (1997)" is a blast!
View All Quotes
View All