This film tells the story of what created the legendary Hercules (played by Kellan Lutz). It begins with war. King Amphitryon (played by Scott Adkins) attacks the kingdom of King Galenus (played by Dimiter Doichinov). The two armies face off. Instead of a massive blood battle to the death of all of the men; the two kings agree to fight only each other. King Amphitryon wins and boasts of his ever-increasing power to his wife, Queen Alcmene (played by Roxanne Mckee) who dislikes him. The Queen prays to the gods and is visited by Hera the wife of Zeus who gives a prophecy that Alcmene will give birth to a son, half-man, half-god and she should name him Hercules.
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That night the boy is conceived. King Amphitryon calls him Alcides but the mother knows the truth, that he is Hercules the son of Zeus. Many years later, Alcides (Hercules), has grown into a man. He has fallen in love with Hebe (played by Gaia Weiss). The two of them run off to a lake where they exchange vows. His older brother Iphicles (played by Liam Garrigan) comes looking for them along with the guard since Hebe is a princess. They return to the castle. On the way back a lion attacks. Hercules kills it, but his older brother falsely claims that he was the one to slay the lion. The King announces that Iphicles will marry Hebe. Hebe tries to escape with Alcides (Hercules) but they are caught. Alcides (Hercules) is banished by his father and is forced to join the army heading towards Egypt. Before he leaves, his mother tells him of his true birth as the son of Zeus and that his real name is Hercules.
The garrison that Alcides (Hercules) joins is attacked. Only the captain Sotiris (played by Liam McIntyre) and he survive, but are taken as prisoners. This attack was orchestrated by his father King Amphitryon to get rid of him. When their captures demand to know what happened to Alcides they point to another dead soldier. From then on, Hercules takes his true name. They are sold into slavery and forced to fight in gladiator contests. In order to get back to Greece they convince the fight promoter to enter them into a contest to fight six undefeated gladiators. But first they must prove their strength. Sotiris and Hercules fight fiercely, dispatching even the toughest challengers such as Humbaba (played by Spencer Wilding) and Half Face (played by Ravoslav Pardanov) but Sotiris is injured in the battle. Hercules agrees to fight all six gladiators alone if Sotiris will be set free. The promoter knows he will make a fortune if Hercules wins against all odds.
The mother of Hercules, Alcmene, and his true love Hebe both think Hercules is dead. Alcmene prays to Hera and is overheard by the King. They fight and he demands to know the truth. She tells him that Hercules is the son of Zeus and is supposed to destroy him. Then she tries to kill him but he kills her instead. Then the King tells everyone that the Queen killed herself over the grief from the loss of her son.
Hercules comes back to Greece and defeats all the gladiators. He finds outs his mother is dead. Knowing this must have been at the hands of the King he vows revenge. Hebe tries to kill herself rather than marry Iphicles but she is saved at the last moment by the Queen's servant and brought to Hercules. Hercules and Sotiris start a rebellion against King Amphitryon. They are caught by Iphicles. All are imprisoned but Hercules is put on public display in chains. Hercules calls on the help of the god Zeus, which allows him to break free of the chains.
Hercules fights Amphitryon. Iphicles has Hebe as a hostage and will kill her if Hercules doesn't stop. But Hebe gets the better of him. Using the sword she is threatened with, she forces it through her shoulder area, just missing her heart, and it goes out her back and into Iphicles killing him instead. Hercules finally defeats Amphitryon and rules over the kingdom as the prophecy had predicted.
Best part of story, including ending:
This film takes immense liberties with the ancient legends and confuses a lot of things up. For example, gladiators were Roman not Greek. I prefer the real legends rather than this modern adaptation.
Best scene in story:
The scene where Hebe escapes the death by the hands of Iphicles and the way she does it, using his own sword against him, is very good.
Opinion about the main character:
Hercules on the one hand seems to easily defeat his opponents, such as the gladiators, but just as easily is manipulated and captured.
