Hercules

Hercules, Heracles, or whoever he is, the Demigod son of Zeus is still a movie star. January's The Legend of Hercules died a quick death; let's see how this second 2014 movie, Hercules, does.

Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) made a name for himself performing the Twelve Labors. In reality, he has a crew of warriors helping him. They've been wandering the land ever since Hercules was exiled from Athens. His crime was the murder of his family ... but did he do it?

King Cotys of Thrace (John Hurt) summons Team Hercules to save his people. The evil King Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann) is out to conquer the land and the King needs their help to train his soldiers. A healthy sum of gold awaits them for a job well done. But is there really more to the story?

And that's all you need to know about the plot.

A comic-book miniseries, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, was the basis for the movie. Team Hercules is even presented like a sword-and-sandal superhero team. A death-seeking prophet, Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), stands out the most among his comrades.

Its premise is that it demystifies the Hercules myth. The monsters turn out to be either illusions or mundane. Hercules is strong enough to topple the humongous statue of Hera, and yet he can bleed. It would've helped a lot if the "truth" behind the labors was explained more. In consequence, the film acts like it's going back and forth on its premise.

Now we go to the technical aspects. Its sets and costumes looked OK. There were some good visual effects, but other effects were far too obvious. All in all, it was an adequate looking movie.

Available in both 3D and Flatscreen, Hercules is an OK matinee at the movies. If all you want is something big and dumb, this won't disappoint. Don't expect it to be anything substantial; don't even imagine how it could get worse.