Review: 'The Legend of Hercules'
Glenn here with a look at a new release that will not be troubling Oscar in 12 months.
Hercules, son of Zeus, was gay. Or at the very least bisexual. He had to be if Renny Harlin’s The Legend of Hercules is anything to go by. Those ancient Greeks weren’t exactly shy about it, so in that regard it’s a shame Harlin’s oiled-up reboot of the Hercules mythology didn’t go further with the homoeroticism that is inherent in the material of pretty much any Hercules production (Disney animation excluded). As Daniel Walber writes at film.com, “the [sword and sandal] genre lives and breathes through the muscled bodies of often scantily-clad actors.” Ain’t that the truth. And in The Legend of Hercules there are buff, barely-clothed bods galore. And beards. Lots of beards, too. I wasn't complaining.
The Legend of Hercules places former Twilight star Kellan Lutz front and centre after a small part as Poseidon in Tarsem Singh’s equally flesh-obsessed Immortals so any genuine exploration of homosexuality between sparring partners was a no go. Still, judging from how close Harlin situates his male actors faces from one another – and the stone cold fact that Lutz has more romantic chemistry with the ridiculous handsome Australian actor Liam McIntyre than his so-called love interest Gaia Weiss – it’s impossible not to see it. And then there’s the gay BDSM lair, the mud-wrestling, and the limp-wristed villain played by Liam Garrison… if this film were actually fun we could have been looking at a new camp classic.