The Legend of Hercules
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: January 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
22
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
5
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
USA TodayScott BowlesJan 10, 2014
There's a fun retro camp to Hercules, with nods to classics such as Ben-Hur and Spartacus, as Hercules finds himself rowing slave ships and crossing desert expanses. Read full review
40
EmpireWilliam GossMar 24, 2014
The action comes thick and fast but the storyline is generic and Lutz makes a particularly dull hero. An Erymanthian bore. Read full review
40
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJan 10, 2014
Renny Harlin's Legend of Hercules fulfills every silly, flimsy promise that it makes in the first place: There are lots of battles (albeit rather jerkily rendered ones), some grand-looking horses decked out in handsome metal headdresses, and lots of well-oiled beefcake. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 10, 2014
This movie, with its relatively modest running time and not-quite-household-name cast, is no more ridiculous than, let’s say, the “Thor” movies, and a lot less pretentious. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 10, 2014
Like so many of today’s action films, The Legend of Hercules is too busy peddling slick, stone-faced portent to ever bother making us laugh, or engaging us in any way. Read full review
39
Film.comMatt PatchesJan 10, 2014
While the art of action filmmaking depreciates, Harlin remains steadfast in his classicism, even if the movie doesn’t have the foundation to support him. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaJan 10, 2014
While Lutz might possess the beefcake to fill out his chest armor, he lacks the acting chops to make us much care about the fate of his gleaming hero who looks as if he just stepped out of a Beverly Hills salon. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaJan 10, 2014
Given its virtuous subject matter and the relative bloodlessness of its violence, perhaps Renny Harlin means for this film to be a means of atoning for his previous cinematic sins. Read full review
38
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJan 9, 2014
At times, with its stiff, charisma-impaired cast, its digital sets and slo-mo slaughter, The Legend of Hercules has a whiff of the Augean Stables about it — if you catch my drift. Read full review
30
VarietyScott FoundasJan 10, 2014
Lutz’s acting muscles aren’t nearly as well developed as his pectorals and deltoids, and while the role may not call for a master thespian, it at least begs someone who can emote without looking like he’s straining to execute a dead lift. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJan 10, 2014
While The Legend Of Hercules offers plenty for viewers who’ve acquired a taste for the fake and incompetent (not the least of which is the dialogue, which finds characters saying each other’s names at the end of every other sentence), it’s unlikely to please anyone who wants entertainment in the conventional sense. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackJan 15, 2014
While watching it, I kept thinking this was like "47 Ronin," in which an unfortunate novice director was given a project way out of his or her reach. In no way was I prepared to learn it was the work of veteran Harlin. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiJan 10, 2014
If you admire Kellan Lutz's chiseled body, The Legend of Hercules does offer plenty of that in 3-D glory. Read full review
20
The DissolveKeith PhippsJan 10, 2014
Where 300 made a virtue of its low budget by stripping the visuals down to their essential elements, the shot-in-Bulgaria Legend Of Hercules mostly just looks rushed and cheap, only coming to life in a handful of fight scenes, and then only briefly. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 10, 2014
If The Legend of Hercules were just a little more inept or over-the-top, it might have been ridiculous fun. As it is, unfortunately, Harlin embraces the mediocrity of the screenplay with a dour straight face, draining it of any enjoyably camp possibilities. Read full review
16
The PlaylistDrew TaylorJan 10, 2014
A movie so ugly and woeful that you'll wish you had superhuman strength to pluck your own eyeballs out of your head. Read full review
12
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 15, 2014
The only thing epic about The Legend of Hercules is what a failure it is. Read full review
10
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJan 15, 2014
The whole thing is a total bore; even the supporting players aren’t motivated enough to attract attention. That’s good news for Lutz; he can’t be blamed for torpedoing the project, because everyone is doing subpar work here. Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJan 10, 2014
This ludicrously written, buffoonishly acted, irritatingly filmed sword-and-sandals epic hasn't half the sand, sweat or saltiness of other titles in the genre. Read full review
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