Little Hercules

"Little Hercules in 3-D" is, to be blunt about it, ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. The premise--young Hercules comes to Earth from Mt. Olympus and is befriended by a black kid and his mother--is not only fully unbelievable but downright juvenile, the performances--with literally one exception, which will ultimately be gotten into--range from grandstanding (Hulk Hogan as young Herc's father) to flat-out horrid (Judd Nelson as an official at the school said black kid and young Herc attend), and the script would not cut the mustard even as an episode of a Saturday- morning live-action series. However, as mentioned, there is one, and only one exception, as far as the acting is concerned, and that alone-- alone--is the drawing card. That exception is, namely, Robin Givens as the black youth's mother. As Dana, she offers her usual amounts of sprightly charm, high-gloss sexiness, and glittering intelligence. When she's standing with Nelson's high-school official and dealing with Herc's dad, we envy Nelson for having such a qualitative ally. When Dana squares off against young Herc's scheming mother (when the latter asks Dana what her game is, the former replies: "Trying to stop you--one mother to another"), we feel young Herc should be wholly grateful to have such an appealing advocate. Really and truly, when Robin Givens is on-screen during "Little Hercules in 3-D," a sow's ear becomes not only a silk purse but an entire uptown ensemble.