HERCULES IN THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR (1994)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*

I actually enjoyed aspects of this final HERCULES telefilm more than the previous one in the series. The various excerpts from earlier shows are tedious, of course. But the frame-story, during which characters relate stories of previous Herc-feats, is moderately appealing this time. 

The frame-tale involves a Minotaur who's preying on a Greek town and kidnapping residents, as opposed to being given them in sacrifice, as in the authentic myth. Once again, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and his buddy Iolaus (Michael Hurst) mount up to destroy the malefactor, and the pleasure they take in the adventure accords with a minor theme from the first film: domesticity threatens the male bonding one gets from heroic action. Accordingly, there's a fair amount of ass-kicking in the new scenes, and only a little romance between a couple of support-characters.

And here's the last performance for Anthony Quinn as Hercules' deadbeat dad, but this time he has a (new) dark secret, which I'll give away here. The Minotaur is another of Zeus's sons, though curiously given no name. The Minotaur was not only a tyrant to other mortals, but he plotted to take over Olympus (though with what resources, one never knows). So Zeus punished his son (compared to Adonis for looks) into a half-bull monster and confined him to a labyrinth. As usual, though, Zeus doesn't take any precautions to keep his rebel offspring from preying on innocent humans.

The good chemistry between Sorbo and Hurst keeps the slower scenes chugging along, and the Minotaur's abduction of Iolaus ups the dramatic ante slightly. The final battle between Hercules and the Minotaur is just adequate, but Anthony Ray Parker puts a lot of fury into the voice of his furry felon, so that helps. (Strangely, the villain does get a name on the cast-list, but I never heard it mentioned.) The story ends happily for the heroes, though the first episode of the series eliminates Hercules' family in order to keep him footloose and fancy-free.