Hercules (2014 movie)

Hercules is an American 2014 action-adventure-fantasy film. Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell and John Hurt and is based off the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. It was released on July 25, 2014 and was one of two movies released in 2014 which were about the mythical warrior, the other being The Legend of Hercules; unlike the former, this film gained mixed to positive critical reviews and was a box office success.

Plot

Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), is the leader of a gang of mercenaries, comprised of the prophet Amphariaus (Ian McShane), the thief Autylocus (Rufus Sewell), the barbarian Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), the huntress Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and his nephew Iolaus (Reece Ritchie). Hercules is supposedly the lovechild of Zeus and a mortal woman who engaged in 12 legendary labors, but was betrayed by Hera, who induced him with madness, which caused him to kill his wife and children while he was visiting King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes). Despite Hercules' origins not being clearly established in the movie, he displays powerful godlike strength and unmatched skill in combat. However, he is frequently plagued by the memory of murdering his family and visions of the three-headed hellhound Cerberus.

After saving his nephew on the coast of Macedonia, Hercules celebrates with his team. As they drink in a tavern, the group are approached by Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), the daughter of Lord Cotys (John Hurt) who wants Hercules to train the Thracian armies to defend his kingdom from the warrior king Rhesus, to which the hero accepts. The band are welcomed to Thrace by Cotys and General Sitacles (Peter Mullan). However, Rhesus has reached the Bessi people Cotys insists that Hercules leads the army into battle to defend the tribe, despite their lack of training. However, they arrive too late as Rhesus has cursed the Bessi into turning against the Thracians.