Despite the gracefully stylish art created for the background as well as some truly amazing animation and pretty amusing cultural references and visual gags, I found this movie to be quite loud and rather bawdy for my liking. Instead of a straightforward adaptation of the ancient Greek legend, this Disney version turns out to be a comically caricatured, rainbow color-sodden cartoony take-off with a great deal of very creepy gothical fantasy thrown in.
The story takes place when Hercules was a fat little baby in the queenly Hera's arms (the irony is that Disney made Zeus and Hera out to be such proud, doting parents when the original version actually protrayed Zeus as a philandering womanizer while Hera, while a wife to him, was REALLY his sister and a vengeful, fire-breathing one to boot.) Hades, the big bad old villain with blue fire for hair decided that he wants to take over the whole Olympus kingdom (which looks just like a big, fluffy sculpture of marshmallow and whipped cream), so he had his wacky sidekicks, Pain and Panic swipe the kid and depose of him so he wouldn't grow up to overthrow the bad guy. But he did and he turned out to be such a gawky, awkward urchin with too-big hands and feet. So poor Hercules turned to the pot-bellied satyr, who would be his personal trainer to make him into the most perfect hero you will ever clap your eyes on. Thus he became rich and famous - a pretty ridiculous protrayal of today's pop culture, especially Disney itself. But the evil Hades had a few more sly tricks up his toga sleeve...including Megan, the very svelte auburn-tressed temptress with a smart-aleck mouth.
This movie is just like a big bowl of colorful, juicy lip-smackin' eye-candy - but bewarned, parents...it will also have TALL, SHARP TEETH with its very scary monsters and some creepy moments that would make some really sensitive viewers shudder and shudder long after the credits begin rolling. But at least the kids will get the message that heroism just isn't everything after all.
The story takes place when Hercules was a fat little baby in the queenly Hera's arms (the irony is that Disney made Zeus and Hera out to be such proud, doting parents when the original version actually protrayed Zeus as a philandering womanizer while Hera, while a wife to him, was REALLY his sister and a vengeful, fire-breathing one to boot.) Hades, the big bad old villain with blue fire for hair decided that he wants to take over the whole Olympus kingdom (which looks just like a big, fluffy sculpture of marshmallow and whipped cream), so he had his wacky sidekicks, Pain and Panic swipe the kid and depose of him so he wouldn't grow up to overthrow the bad guy. But he did and he turned out to be such a gawky, awkward urchin with too-big hands and feet. So poor Hercules turned to the pot-bellied satyr, who would be his personal trainer to make him into the most perfect hero you will ever clap your eyes on. Thus he became rich and famous - a pretty ridiculous protrayal of today's pop culture, especially Disney itself. But the evil Hades had a few more sly tricks up his toga sleeve...including Megan, the very svelte auburn-tressed temptress with a smart-aleck mouth.
This movie is just like a big bowl of colorful, juicy lip-smackin' eye-candy - but bewarned, parents...it will also have TALL, SHARP TEETH with its very scary monsters and some creepy moments that would make some really sensitive viewers shudder and shudder long after the credits begin rolling. But at least the kids will get the message that heroism just isn't everything after all.