Ok, so the number one, undisputed, worst film of the year (Legend of Hercules) was sooo bad that…wow, just wow. I have seen some bad movies in my life, but this movie is the cherry on the cake and when I say “cake” I mean a disaster of such cataclysm that makes the rest of the movies in this list quite enjoyable to watch. Personally I believed that this kind of clumsy, lowest common denominator filmmaking died in the 80’s.
Where to begin? I don’t expect much in this type of movie in terms of plot or characterization. In “Action porn” like this, the plot is usually just barely coherent enough to move from one action sequence to the next and the characters are as black and white as a chessboard. This movie somehow delivers LESS than that.
It is staggering to me that with a mythology as rich and engaging to draw from, they choose a tired rehashing of Gladiator as the main focus of the film. No doubt holding the more interesting material back for future sequels (really?). The laughable love story is unengaging, poorly scripted and given far too much screen time.
What really disappoints is the action sequences. Hercules is supposed to be a demigod that achieves the impossible; the movie portrays none of this. It wastes a good deal of time with a clumsy mix of fighting scenes in which Hercules is repeatedly captured and/or defeated.
The acting is hilariously awful (Kellan Lutz and the villains especially). The romance is laughable. The fight scenes are a total rip off of 300 and Gladiator, with obnoxious slow-mo being used every 10 seconds. And for a movie with a budget of $70 million, it looks cheap.