It’s difficult naming the worst character for this film. The Three Fates receive the honor simply because they’re disgusting. They can see into the future but decide not to tell Hades that he’s going to lose? Come on. Surely they could have seen Pain and Panic screwing up and told Hades his plot was futile. I guess that would have made for a boring movie though. Pain and Panic are the next closest this film gets to having bad characters, as much of their content comes from dated pop culture references and attempts at humor. Some of their attempts stick, but they can be kind of annoying at times as comic relief. These character aside the rest of the cast is very strong, a signal that the movie was definitely released during the Disney Renaissance. Another signal? It has a great soundtrack.
For the most part the soundtrack is one of Disney’s strongest. Not my favorite, but I can recognize how someone might really appreciate it. For me, there are only a couple of standouts. “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” is one of my favorite Disney songs of all time, likely placing around #6 or #7 on my all time list. “I Can Go the Distance” is naturally the other favorite, but it has since fallen in my rankings. The gap in between its sections is a little long, but the reprise is extraordinary. There’s not a more inspiring song within the canon than “I Can Go the Distance.” As far as the rest of the soundtrack goes, I’m not particularly attached to any of them. The Muses have great voices, but I’ve never been a fan of their songs. The opening sequence is relatively weak compared to some of the other Disney films, and I think a lot of it has to do with the opening song.
This films in this group are so strong I really have to nitpick to justify some of their placements. Let’s start with Hercules himself. He’s a good guy. His personality is fine – a little boring, but fine. There’s nothing about him personally that really rubs me the wrong way. It’s just, he too strong. As I said previously, it’s never in doubt that he will inevitably save the day. His “weakness” isn’t really a weakness, and he never really has to overcome anything too daunting. Sure, he’s not a good. But he still has god-like powers! He reminds me too much of Superman, whom I never really liked. Sorry Herc, you’re a boring lead. Another small problem I have with the film is that it’s filled with a little bit too much comedy and not enough serious moments. Every time Hercules has the potential to share a touching moment with his father Zeus acts over the top and ruins it. Even during the really cool fight scene against the hydra it gets silly at the end. Right when Hercules smashes the cliff and the hydra looks up there’s an unnecessary silly sound effect complete with a silly reaction from the hydra. I’m not trying to say I don’t like humor in my films. I do. It’s just this one had a couple of instances where they could have toned down the humor in favor of some dramatic flavor.
Hercules has few faults. It really does a lot of things well. Like all of the remaining films unranked, I could easily see Hercules sneaking into the top five or so on someone’s list. The plot is fun if a little contrived, it has a good cast of main and supporting characters, and it’s got a great soundtrack. Explained above however, there are just a few nitpicks I have with the film that keep it from going the distance. And that’s the gospel truth.
Next Up: Another film sharing the title of its main character goes down.