The Legend of Hercules

Cloned from the same visual aesthetic textbook as 300, this threadbare fantasy is a low-rent trudge through Greek mythology from director Renny Harlin (whose Cliffhanger glory days are clearly far behind him). Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz gets top billing here as the son of Zeus, who's betrayed into gladiatorial slavery but fights his way back home for the love of a princess and revenge on his duplicitous half-brother (Liam Garrigan). Lutz certainly has the muscle to play the conflicted demi-god, but the one-dimensional script is all flab and dull melodrama. The movie borders on pantomime, with its overdone villainy, mawkish romance and banal dialogue. What little spectacle is on offer - the best being a lightning whip cutting a slo-mo swathe through a barbarian army - is further debased by murky CGI and dodgy special effects. It's enough to make you nostalgic for the cheap and cheerful Steve Reeves epics from the 1950s and 60s.