Hercules review

We all know the Disney story of Hercules; He was the son of Zeus and Hades sent him to earth in order to kill him and as a result Hercules became a demigod and defeated Hades. However, this movie is clearly much different than that story. I must also say that this movie has no connections to the previous Hercules movie that came out earlier this year. This is a completely different Hercules for a completely different audience.

The story begins when Hercules was born and instead of Hades wanting the boy dead, it's Zeus's wife Hera who wants him gone. Yet the boy proved too strong, so she sends him on 12 great trials, promising that if he completed these tasks he would be left alone. However, that's not where the true story begins...

The true story begins some time after the 12 trials, with Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) and his band of mercenaries saving his nephew and driving out pirates for the king of Athens. Unlike the superhuman-like character that is depicted in legends Hercules uses the aid of his group to defeat the pirates. After the battle is won the group seer, Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), receives a vision that lion and crow would walk a field of corpses.

Our heroes return home where we learn that Hercules' family had been murdered three years earlier. While they enjoy their rewards the group is sought out by Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), daughter of Lord Cotys (John Hurt), who seeks Hercules' help in stopping the civil war of the kingdom Thrace. Hercules goes to the king and, after learning that a man named Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann) wants to take over the kingdom, proceeds to train the soldiers of Thrace for battle.

After finally capturing Rhesus, Hercules discovers, through Ergenia, that Lord Cotys was in reality the actual person who wanted to take over the kingdom. Rhesus only wanted to defend it and give it to thee rightful ruler, Arius (Issac Andrews), Ergenia's son. So confronting Cotys about the betrayal Hercules is taken prisoner where he is forced to accept who the legends say about him and discovers who murdered his family. He frees Ergenia and Arius from Cotys, kills his family's murderer and battles the Thracian army. In the end Hercules defeats the mad king and the army, recognizing the error of their ways, bows before Hercules, chanting his name.

This is definitely a different take on the Hercules character than we have ever gotten before. Sometimes it worked for me, sometimes it didn't. But now whenever I think of Hercules, instead of thinking about the 1997 animated Disney movie, I'll be thinking of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's portrayal and the impact it had throughout the film. Don't get me wrong, this movie is great, but it's far from perfect. For example, how did the head of a lion, which looks massive, shrink so much as to fit perfectly on Hercules' head? All throughout the movie the graphics were very noticeable and the action was great for the short amount of time the movie runs.

The movie has some foul language, yet it's mostly expected from that era, the action scenes are very violent and somewhat gruesome and there are a few scenes of nudity throughout the film. Even though the movie is rated PG-13 it really likes to dance on the edge of the "R" rating, so unless you're perfectly comfortable with taking your kids and younger teenagers to this sort of movie I would highly recommend this movie for people 16 and over.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I will have to give Hercules a 7. It's not the best movie to see during the summer, but it has decent action and a good story. Dwayne Johnson truly does put in all his heart into making a character we can all enjoy.

Thanks for reading this movie review. Be sure to come back each week for new movie reviews or for nerd/movie talk. Until the next movie, Josh Williamson.

Weekend Planning

Hello everyone. I see I've gotten quite a view hits for my Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie review. Unfortunately there's not really anything that's peaked my interest coming out in theaters till next week, so I don't have anything to review.

I want to give you guys the opportunity to suggest something for me to review this weekend.  It can be anything from a movie already on DVD or a movie that's still in theaters. I'd love to know what your thoughts are. I loved reviewing the new Apes movie and can't wait to do more for you all.

Till the next review, Josh Williamson

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes review

Does anyone remember back when Tim Burton did that 'Planet of the Apes' remake and after that every fan of the original series, and non fans alike, were concerned when 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' was announced? Well three years later we are introduced to 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' and I must say, personally, any doubt that future films in this franchise will be good are completely eradicated!

Set ten years after the events of the first film mankind has been reduced to the point of extinction because of a virus that had been dubbed as the 'Simian Flu', leaving Caesar and his colony of apes to roam the forests free from prying eyes. However, the discovery of a faction of humans, living in the abandoned city of San Fransisco, will cause great discomfort for everyone as both sides don't want war yet will fight to protect their homes if needed.

While groups of both apes and humans want nothing more than to wipe the other out of existence, Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and a small group of humans want to try to make peace with Caesar (Andy Serkis) so they all can live together in harmony. However, that dream won't come to pass when Koba (Toby Kebbell), the ape military leader, steals a gun, shoots Caesar and blames it on the humans.

All out war ensues as Koba gathers all the apes together and attacks the human city. Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) hears of the apes coming and gathers the men in the city to defend their home. Both humans and apes suffer numerous casualties, but the apes win the battle and Koba proceed to caging the humans as he had been caged all those years ago while the other apes rampaged through the city, searching and capturing the remaining humans.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and his family find Caesar and nurse him back to health in the very same house Caesar grew up in. Once healed, Caesar and his son free the apes loyal to Caesar and go to confront Koba. Caesar and Koba go at each other, fighting for the right to lead the apes. Despite some dirty fighting tricks by Koba Caesar, once again, emerges victorious and, after advising Malcolm to take his family and leave before the human military arrives and war starts all over again, walks down the steps of San Fransisco's city hall as the apes bow down to him, recognizing their rightful ruler.

In my personal opinion, this is by far the best movie out of the newly refreshed 'Planet of the Apes' franchise. The story is fresh and we get outstanding actors; Andy Serkis has really been able to take the beloved character Caesar and make it his own thing. Though the previous movie might've been a bit slow due to an excessive amount of character development and little action, this movie has the perfect combination of character development and action scenes to make this a phenomenal action movie.

The movie does have a few moments where fowl language is used and very intense action scenes, so I would advise not taking young children to see this movie. However, if you have teenagers who love action flicks or are fans of the 'Planet of the Apes' franchise then I would strongly suggest that you go see this movie.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I will give this movie a rating of 9 for the amazing action, great character development and overall freshness of the story. I love this new series and can't wait to see what they will throw at us next.

Thanks for reading this movie review, and if you want a SPOILER filled review of the 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' movie here is the link to the blog site: http://www.marvelousmoviespoilers.blogspot.com.

Be sure to come back each week for new movie reviews or for nerd/movie talk. Until the next movie, Josh Williamson.

Introductions

Greetings everyone, my name is Josh Williamson. Before you ask, I am not anyone of great importance or with great wealth; I'm a struggling-to-survive college student, like most average college students are.

I've always liked doing movie reviews on my Facebook page and decided that I should try my luck here. I may not be a professional yet, but I'm a big movie/comic lover and I know my stuff. So try to ask one of the big professionals what the top worst Marvel movie ever made was, because I bet most of them would get it wrong. And just so you know, it's Howard the Duck (1986).

My first movie review will be on Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, that's coming out this weekend. I'm so excited to watch this movie.

If I get plenty of hits then I just might start doing some older movies and random stuff during the week. So have fun, spread this around and always remember to never judge a book, or movie in this case, by it's cover or trailers.

Best to all, Josh Williamson.