22
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50USA TodayScott BowlesUSA TodayScott BowlesThere's a fun retro camp to Hercules, with nods to classics such as Ben-Hur and Spartacus, as Hercules finds himself rowing slave ships and crossing desert expanses.
- 40New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriLike so many of today’s action films, The Legend of Hercules is too busy peddling slick, stone-faced portent to ever bother making us laugh, or engaging us in any way.
- 39Film.comMatt PatchesFilm.comMatt PatchesWhile the art of action filmmaking depreciates, Harlin remains steadfast in his classicism, even if the movie doesn’t have the foundation to support him.
- 38McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreAt times, with its stiff, charisma-impaired cast, its digital sets and slo-mo slaughter, The Legend of Hercules has a whiff of the Augean Stables about it — if you catch my drift.
- 38Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaSlant MagazineKenji FujishimaGiven its virtuous subject matter and the relative bloodlessness of its violence, perhaps Renny Harlin means for this film to be a means of atoning for his previous cinematic sins.
- 38RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaRogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaWhile Lutz might possess the beefcake to fill out his chest armor, he lacks the acting chops to make us much care about the fate of his gleaming hero who looks as if he just stepped out of a Beverly Hills salon.
- 30VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasLutz’s acting muscles aren’t nearly as well developed as his pectorals and deltoids, and while the role may not call for a master thespian, it at least begs someone who can emote without looking like he’s straining to execute a dead lift.
- 20The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyIf The Legend of Hercules were just a little more inept or over-the-top, it might have been ridiculous fun. As it is, unfortunately, Harlin embraces the mediocrity of the screenplay with a dour straight face, draining it of any enjoyably camp possibilities.
- 20The DissolveKeith PhippsThe DissolveKeith PhippsWhere 300 made a virtue of its low budget by stripping the visuals down to their essential elements, the shot-in-Bulgaria Legend Of Hercules mostly just looks rushed and cheap, only coming to life in a handful of fight scenes, and then only briefly.
- 16The PlaylistDrew TaylorThe PlaylistDrew TaylorA movie so ugly and woeful that you'll wish you had superhuman strength to pluck your own eyeballs out of your head.