"The Legend of Hercules," Mythology With Kellan Lutz Kellan Lutz as the title demigod in Renny Harlin's "The Legend of Hercules," which features much fighting and howling. Summit Entertainment "The Legend of Hercules," a new 3-D work of Classical beefcake scholarship, directed by Renny Harlin, is likely to be met with ridicule. At the crowded preview screening I attended on Thursday night in Manhattan, there were audible hoots of derision, which were, for the most part, well earned. But really, this movie, with its relatively modest running time and not-quite-household-name cast, is no more ridiculous than, let's say, the "Thor" movies, and a lot less pretentious. It delivers what it promises, which is muscular guys in skimpy clothes fighting and howling, as well as some large-scale digitally enhanced battle sequences. Hercules is played by Kellan Lutz, whose appearance is about as evocative of Greece as his name. Like Thor, this blond demigod is caught up in some family drama. His mother, Alcmene (Roxanne McKee) adores him; his older brother, Iphicles (Liam Garrigan), despises him; and the man who passes for his father, King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins), does not trust him. Hercules" real dad, of course, is Zeus, who, in this version, with the blessing of the goddess Hera, visited Queen Alcmene in the form of a bright light and a howling wind. She describes it to her husband a bit differently: "Zeus came into my bed and blasted me with his seed to spawn a son to end your reign." Most of the dialogue is less memorable, perhaps so it can be easily dubbed for the global market. There is quite a lot of roaring, though, and some swooning and sighing, mostly courtesy of Hebe (Gaia Weiss), the Cretan princess beloved by Hercules and betrothed to his brother. The 3-D is pedestrian. Now and then, an arrow seems to fly out of the screen, but usually, stuff floats down and across it: bodies, mostly, but also confetti and an odd, feathery substance. I don't think it was snow, but it might have been dandelion fluff, or maybe feathers drifting in from an off-camera pillow fight. "The Legend of Hercules" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Fighting and killing, and some tasteful god-and-mortal coupling.