Hercules

Hercules centers on a seasoned warrior who lives off his reputation and pays his way with muscle and wit. When a ruthless new opponent starts terrorizing innocent villages, he rallies a tight-knit band of fighters to push back. The movie follows their complicated planning and brutal confrontations as Hercules must lead, inspire, and outsmart forces that seem to have the upper hand. Along the way the film balances big set-piece battles with quieter moments that hint at the toll of violence and the weight of legend, without revealing any of the story's larger surprises.

Directed by Brett Ratner and released in 2014, the screenplay credits go to Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos. The cast is led by Dwayne Johnson, with Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, and Aksel Hennie in supporting roles, giving the film a distinctly star-driven, action-focused presentation.

The film didn't attract major awards or Academy attention, and it wasn't a serious awards-season contender. While it didn't rack up high-profile trophies, several performances and production elements were noted in genre-minded outlets and by audiences who appreciated the cast's chemistry.

Hercules helped reinforce Dwayne Johnson's standing as a dependable action lead in modern myth-based fare, and its muscular, old-school fight sequences fed into a trend of gritty historical action films. It hasn't produced widely quoted lines, but it's remembered for a confident, crowd-pleasing riff on classical material that treats mythic figures as fallible, very human fighters.

Critical response was mixed, with the film scoring around 5.8 out of 10 from general audiences based on several thousand votes. Reviewers tended to praise Johnson's charisma and the film's large-scale combat, while pointing to uneven plotting and tonal shifts as weaknesses. The movie touches on themes of leadership, the gap between legend and truth, and the ethics of paid violence, framed through the perspective of a leader who relies on loyalty as much as force.