 I am disappointed with the new Hercules flick that just came out. Question of the day though, how does it stack up against this Disney counterpart? Let's find out on a new movie feud. Wayne The Rock Johnson is not what I would consider a fantastic actor, but he's right up there with Arnold in my mind. They pick roles that suit them and they do a great job in their performance. Unlike Arnold though, The Rock doesn't have that breakout franchise like The Terminator, and I was kind of hoping Hercules was going to be that. Unfortunately, the script doesn't have much depth. There's not much range for Mr. Johnson to grow. That sounded sexual. And I'm fine with it. I'm a big fan of The Rock, the Michael Bay film. I'm also a big fan of Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. You can tell he's really trying to give it his all in these films. He spent eight months training physically, and he spent six months in full isolation somewhere in Budapest, away from society, to get into the mental state of Hercules. I didn't see that on the screen. All I saw was The Rock with long hair. But still, I give him props. Now, even though Dwayne Johnson is a chiseled work of art, he can't compete with Disney's animators. They can sculpt their Hercules how they see fit. This guy is voiced by Tate Donovan, and he treats the role of our hero in a very straightforward manner. He's just a simple man trying to go the distance, if you will. Joining the new Hercules is a group of close allies that I won't even bother trying to pronounce. Naturally, one of his crew members is a female, rocking an armor mid-drift, and she also shoots a bow and arrow. Granted, Antalanta is based on a Greek character, but my point still remains. While there might be one or two more performances in 2014's version, it's not even close when compared to the Disney lineup. Rip Torn plays a goofy yet powerful Zeus. Danny DeVito plays a hero trainer, and this film is one of my favorite female Disney women to date. Susan Egan voices Meg, a hot female with attitude. That brings us to the main reason to watch Disney's Hercules, and that's actor James Woods' portrayal of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. He's a blast to watch, and his reactions to the antics' pain and panic bring him are always hot. I say hot because he always starts on fire, and because I'm sexually aroused by it. No Disney film is complete without a lovable sidekick, and here we have a half bird, half horse, by the name of Pegasus. Enough horsing around, though. Time to pony up and talk story. There was two puns there for the price of one. I'm a little cloudy with a chance of meatballs on the origin story of Hercules, but from what I do recall, old man Zeus wasn't afraid to stick his lightning bolt in a few of the common folk. He had many a child, and one of them was Herc himself, half man, half god, 100% beef. 2014's film plays this just like the original story, complete with the trials of our hero. The problem is all this interesting story, all this background is brought up within the first 10 minutes. Hera wants Hercules dead, she's jealous, she's pissed that Zeus had another child that was so perfect and it wasn't hers, so she wanted to go after him. This was barely mentioned in the film, plus those cool shots from the trailer where Hercules goes up against the lion, he fights the Hydra and takes out that giant boar. That's five seconds of the film each, at most. In typical Brett Ratner fashion, the story is all over the place and it doesn't hold much weight. There's a nice twist halfway through that got me a bit more invested, but there's really nothing more to this. The death of Hercules' family could have been very big, very impactful, but we don't know anything about his kids or his wife. Disney got it right, although they do make the movie much more PC for the kids. No longer is Zeus going around banging random hood rats, instead it's Hades that wants him dead. And in typical Disney fashion, he goes about by hiring the dumbest goons possible, the guys that are almost 100% unlikely to get the job done, pain and panic. Naturally, they do botch the job and Hercules falls in the hands of a nice couple who raise him. The Disney version is great because we get to see him grow up and struggle with his strength and acceptance in the world. We see his training and some of his trials. Plus, there's a lot of Greek characters here. We get to see the gods and some of the Titans. There were almost no mystical elements in the 2014 version and I think that was a huge mistake. I think it really weighed it down. Easy win for the 1997 version here, but let's not be so biased. What was great in the 2014 film? Well, for starters, we have some really cool CGI creatures. There are some fun and creative action sequences, such as the chariot lawnmower that looked like something out of a Dead Rising game and some cool use of slow motion throughout. The Rock has never looked bigger, more in shape. Unfortunately, he was the weakest to watch on the film as they usually just had him swinging around a big club or sword. The cartoon has a lot of variety from the training montages to the epic fight against the Hydra. Plus, the final conflict with the Titans on Mount Olympus and the accidental destruction go a long ways. And as a bonus, the final act of the Disney film doesn't look like it ran out of budget. Seriously, that final act in the 2014 one's brutal. No chance, no way, I won't say. Let's start with the Disney soundtrack as it's much easier to talk about here. Go the Distance is the obvious standout and was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. It lost, though, to Celine Dion's masterpiece, my heart will go on from Titanic. For good reason, nobody can top the Queen of Canada, not even Avril Lavigne. As popular as Go the Distance was, I was more keen to Meg's song, I Won't Sam in Love. Then there's the zero to hero and the great opener, The Gospel Truth. Although Dwayne Johnson never busts out in the song and dance, there's still some pretty solid songs pumping through the 2014's veins. Just nothing that stays with you. I could really have just listened to The Rock, while I am Hercules over and over and have been fine. So having any sort of music at all was just a little bit of a bonus. No song. New Hercules is not bad. It's just not great either, and that's unfortunate because I thought from the trailers going in, this was gonna be a new Hercules that we all wanted. Kevin Sorbo had a TV series for many years, but I think it was time to move on. I think it was time for The Rock to show us how big, how grand, how large Hercules could be. Actually, large is less than grand, so let's scratch that last line. This is just my take, though, a mere mortal. Let's hear from you in the comments. Tell me what you thought of Hercules. If you think it was better than the animated film, I'd love to know why. More than just reviews, this is movie feuds. Also, didn't that archer look just like Nicole Kidman, a young Nicole Kidman? Just saying.