What's that you say? They're two different movies? No, no, I'm sure they're the same. Based on a folk legend (so that Di$ney doesn't have to pay royalties). Filled with pop tunes by Alan Menken that are sometimes zippy, sometimes funny, usually irrelevant. Featuring an A-list Hollywood actor whose character, despite the legendary milieu, constantly makes cultural references to the late 20th century (meaning this movie will age badly). As the villain's sidekick, an annoying character voiced by an annoyingly-voiced standup comic (all right, two annoying characters). And a Hero who is Redeemed by Sacrifice. Yep, seen it. This one couldn't have been any more formulaic.
Okay, I'll admit it starts off pretty cool. It features Charlton Heston saying "You go, girl." Where else are you going to hear that, not in his NRA infomercials, that's for sure. Then there's some gospel music sung by an ubiquitous gaggle of muses: notice that there are only five present. Who of the nine classical muses didn't make the cut? Probably Clio (history), Melpomene (tragedy), Urania (astronomy), and Calliope (heroic poetry and eloquence). There is little relationship to the historical legends of Hercules (even the old Steve Reeves movies come closer), it certainly isn't a tragedy that this movie wasn't an astronomical hit, and as far as being a musing on heroism, this film was far from eloquent on the subject, with all the emotional strength of a Nike commercial.
There was some neat animation done in the colors of Grecian pottery, and the Titans reminded me, pleasantly, of the old "Herculoids" television cartoon. Once the action started, however, the animation reverted to the Little Mermaid style that has become a studio staple. Olympus is painted in candy colors with big puffy clouds and big puffy people. The heavens were teal rather than a more realistic shade of blue. Who knew that the Greek gods were painted in pastel hues?
As usual, the Di$ney writers play fast and loose with myth: here, Hercules is the son of Zeus and Hera, rather than being the illegitimate son of Zeus and Alcmene. Hera barely makes an impression in the movie, wheras in the myth, she constantly torments the hero. It's no use comparing mythos with movie, as the two have little in common other than some names and vague concepts.
The voice actors range from bland (Tate Donovan as the hero) to annoying (Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer as Pain and Panic, or vice-versa, I don't care) to talented but underused (Hal Holbrook as Hercules' adoptive father). Danny DeVito is much better as one would expect as Philoctetes, Hercules' satyr tutor. Come to think of it, wasn't Louie De Palma, DeVito's "Taxi" character, a satyr? In any case, it's good to hear someone use the word "ferschlugginer" again. Rip Torn is not the most jovian of actors, but acquits himself well as the voice of Zeus. Susan Egan is funny and sexy (in a Di$ney cartoon?) as Megara, the femme fatale. And James Woods is a delight as Hades. He's funny and very inventive, more so, even, than Robin Williams in Aladdin. His lord of the dead (more in the Christian tradition than the Greek, by the way) is more quietly evil than diabolical.
Hopefully the relatively poor domestic gross for this film will encourage the studio to not copy Aladdin again. Indeed, the signs are encouraging on the animated front: Disney's next, The Legend of Mulan, promises to be different. Many other studios have big-budget animted films in the works, so we should be seeing a great deal of them in the next four years (I'm most looking forward to Antz, featuring the voice of Woody Allen).
In any case, this film is probably enjoyable for children, if possibly a bit too intense for the younger ones. It's also bearable to sit through for adults, but I would not encourage it. If only it weren't so formulaic, so competely by-the-numbers, so Di$ney.
Two-and-a-half stars
Copyright 1997 by Dale G. Abersold
