This week’s movie releases

After Renny Harlin’s feeble The Legend of Hercules, the year’s second movie to tackle the Greek demigod lands this week. Except that Hercules, director Brett Ratner’s self-proclaimed revisionist take on the legend – adapted from a graphic novel by the late comic creator Steve Moore – prefers to play down the legendary status of its hero (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), confining his 12 labors to flashbacks with the suggestion they were merely a spot of clever marketing to help up the price commanded by his mercenary team. Which is not to say the film is more brains than brawn: the action arrives as Hercules and co. are hired by Thracian leader King Cotys (John Hurt) to train his armies to defeat a barbarian invader. Brits Rufus Sewell, Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes and Peter Mullan lend support, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo’s other half, Irina Shayk.

On second glance, renowned jazz fan Clint Eastwood doesn’t seem too odd a choice to direct the big-screen version of hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys, given its mix of great songs and criminal goings-on. Following the rise and fall of 1960s rock ‘n’ rollers The Four Seasons, it features star of the stage show John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli who, with his three bandmates, went from the mean streets of New Jersey to international fame with hits such as Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry and Walk Like a Man, but always struggled to shake off their underworld connections.

After chilling us with Ethan Hawke-starring horror Sinister, Scott Derrickson gets nastier in Deliver Us from Evil. Based on the purportedly true memoirs of New York cop Ralph Sarchie, it stars Eric Bana as a policeman who teams up with a Spanish priest who specializes in exorcisms (Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez) to help solve a series of grisly crimes.

Latin move

Centered on the world of salsa, Ciudad Delirio is a Colombia-set comedy about Spanish doctor Javier (Julián Villagrán), who, after a sharing a magical night with dancer Carolina Ramírez on a trip to a conference in Cali, decides to drop his life in Madrid and move across the pond.

Also out this week, Catalan documentary L’endemà seeks to offer an open-minded and unconventional exploration of the issues surrounding the region’s sovereignty drive, while, for the little ones, La abeja Maya. La película is the 3D big-screen version of the revived 1970s kids cartoon hit about a restless young bee, originally based on a 1912 children’s book by German author Waldemar Bonsels.