Date: Fri 10-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Playing-Hercules-Disney-Woods

Full Text:

(rev "Hercules" for Now Playing, 10/10/97)

Now Playing--

How Good Is Disney's Latest Entry?

By Trey Paul Alexander III

These days, Walt Disney Co., typically an authority in people pleasing, is

finding it a more difficult task than ever to please anybody. Several

religious groups are vocally boycotting the House That Walt Built for

practices that run contrary to the family-friendly image projected by the

company; the studio and its subsidiaries (Touchstone, Miramax, etc) currently

have no films among the top ten movies playing in theatres; and Hercules ,

which is opening overseas, is fighting resistance in Greece as traditionalists

decry the modifications made on their beloved myth.

Hercules , the feature film this week at the Edmond Town Hall Theatre in

Newtown, found no such opposition in the US when it was released over the

summer, yet it failed to live up to the box office of its predecessor, The

Hunchback of Notre Dame , which itself was considered an underachiever. But

let's not talk abut how much money Hercules did or did not make, lest we fall

into the Hollywood trap of judging a movie by bulging box-office receipts or

anemic first week numbers. The more pertinent question before us deals not

with dollars or perceived images, but is simply, is Hercules any good?

What becomes immediately striking about Disney's 35th animated feature is the

superb characterization by James Woods, who gives voice to Hades, lord of the

underworld. Due to the recent live version of 101 Dalmatians , Cruella DeVil's

status in the pantheon of great Disney villains has been boosted, and

legitimately so, but Hades' must rank right up there on the list of memorable

miscreants.

The singular combination of imaginative animation -- Hades is rendered as a

pointy-chinned, diabolically grinning demon with a blazing head whose flame

changes from blue to orange depending on his fluctuating moods -- and Woods'

impish, sly charm makes for an extremely charismatic bad guy. Wood's terrific

work in Hercules is so strong, he nearly becomes just as integral to this

movie as flamboyant foes are to the recent Batman movies.

Yet the superhero parallels of this tale allude not to the Dark Knight, but to

the Superman legend. You see, young Herc is a visitor from another planet

(well, Mount Olympus actually, but work with me here) who is taken in by

kindly human folk who raise him as their own son. But Herc isn't like the

other kids. He has enormous strength and must learn to use it for good. So he

heads off to Metropolis, I mean Thebes, to begin such superhuman feats as

defeating the dreaded, multi-headed Hydra.

Herc, whose immortality was sapped as an infant by Hades' cronies, strive to

prove himself heroic to his real father, Zeus, by his eye-catching exploits,

and thus gain entry back to Mt. Olympus. But Herc's mounting popularity in

Thebes is not sufficient and Zeus chides him, saying, "Being famous isn't the

same as being a true hero." This is a great line that emerges among many wry

and hilarious comments on, observations of, and allusions to our culture's

ever-growing fascination with celebrity. When Herc runs into a sultry

temptress named Meg, he begins to learn the value of real friendship,

sincerity, truthfulness and sacrifice.

Though Hercules emphasizes the fantasy of its origins by its stylish

depictions -- the intentionally flat, angled and two-dimensional forms are

more cartoonish and comic than the more rounded, three-dimensional characters

of Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- it confuses its mythological

source with biblical accounts by the use of a chorus that proclaims the

fictitious Greek tale as "the gospel truth." Nevertheless, the movie is a

witty, colorful and zestfully told entry that entertains from start to finish

(literally, as Woods babbles on even at the end of the credits).