Hercules

Although I know I have heaped praise on several other Disney films...Hercules stands out as my favourite among them all. After this movie the Disney features once again seemed to slip downhill. However I can watch this movie again and again, it has a spectacular Greek chorus, gospel type score, which will ring in your head for days (and you will like it!). The characters are all likeable, even the villain and it is absolutely hilarious!

I have never understood the panning this film got from Disney fans, as I have never comprehended what there is to dislike. The animation is beautifully done, although it is done in the style of Greek art, which may not be to everyone's taste (very similar situation to Sleeping Beauty which was disliked by some because it was animated in the style of a medieval tapestry), but it works wonderfully for the film.

Take a chance and watch it...and when you're done watching it for the sixteenth time, go out and buy the soundtrack!

"Hercules" is a cracking Disney film and for once it's not just for the kids. The animation is more like the "old-school" Disney, before the cute, big-eye syndrome and the characters are hugely entertaining. It has sly humour and in-jokes, but what sets it apart are the songs; soul, RNB, jazz and not a drippy sugar-song in sight. Quality entertainment!

I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology, so even though I really liked this movie, I couldn't stop knit-picking all the little details that Disney screwed up. Here's just a short list:

1) Hercules wasn't Hera's son. In fact, she hated him!

2) Amphitryon, Hercules's foster dad, wasn't alive. Zeus came to Alcmene in the form of her dead husband's spirit.

3) Hercules wasn't a god. He was the son of a god (Zeus) and a mortal (Alcmene), making him a demigod. However, he did gain access to Mt. Olympus following his death.

4) The titans were not the monsters depicted in the movie. They were the Gods before the Greek Gods came on the scene, though it was after Zeus came along that they lost most of their power and got smaller jobs.

5) Hades was never `sentenced' to be the God of the Underworld; he asked for the job. Zeus even tried to persuade him not to do it.

6) Hercules never rode Pegasus; that's a totally different legend.

OK, I'll admit that I'm anal-retentive about the facts, but honestly, I really did like the movie. James Woods was hilarious as Hades (I couldn't stop laughing, he obviously had a lot of fun doing his lines), and Megara has got to be my favorite Disney heroine ever. This is definitely a movie for all ages; as long as you can get the Greek mythology fans to shut up for five seconds, you'll enjoy it.

I don't usually like villains, even in Disney movies, because they're too scary, but I loved James Woods as Hades. He was so funny. I loved the way he called Megara "my little nutmeg." I also loved the way they depicted Thebes like New York and they called it "the big olive." I loved Meg's cynical and sarcastic attitude. Hercules himself was rather bland. I loved the song "Go the Distance." Paul Wylie skated to it and showed how powerful the song is. I really enjoyed this movie and I don't care if it departs from Greek mythology. It was really about our time anyway. I'd watch it again in a Pelopenisian minute.

I'm shocked to see this movie with a rating below 7. As a big Disney fan, I'll go out on a limb and say this is one Disney's top 5. There isn't a Disney movie out there with wit as sharp as this one's with much of it probably lost on the audience guessing by the rating given to this movie.

"Meg" definitely emerges as my all-time favorite female Disney role. Breaking from tradition, her character is not all that lady-like in her biting wit and sarcasm, but it works, serving to make the movie funny and her character lovable despite working with questionable motives.

The set-up and plot is typical for the movie but the script, animation, and music are most original AND good. IF I had to register a complaint, I would say that it's perpetual humor kept the movie from being emotionally wrenching. However, this movie remains one of the most entertaining I've seen. 8.5/10