Boy was I wrong! "The Scorpion King" turned out to be a top quality action flick! It was funny and filled with plenty of the witty humor that made "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" such enjoyable films. The story was actually quite exciting and involving, quite the opposite of what I expected!

Believe it or not, The Rock was oddly charming in his role as Mathayus, The Scorpion King. I actually ended up really loving him! Mathayus's jittery sidekick, Arpid (Grant Heslov) steals the show! Heslov is so charming and utterly hilarious, it's almost as if he was made for this role! My only complaint as far as acting goes is that of Kelly Hu, who plays the sorceress (and Mathayus's love interest). Her lines were cheesy to begin with, but an actress of greater talent could've delivered them with more enthusiasm and character.

The movie begins rather unimpressively with Mathayus rescuing his brother from some barbaric enemies. The fight sequence was fantastic, but what really turned me off about this scene (and made me question how good the rest of the film would be) was when Mathayus came barreling in to save his brother with his bow in hand and said "Boo" and everyone started screaming. Come on; how cheesy and cliched is that line? Thank God the rest of the movie isn't like that!

Here's a quick summarization of the plot:

Mathayus is hired by a band of rebels to murder the wizard who is helping the evil Memnon win battles by seeing into the future for him. Mathayus is set on completing his mission until he sees the wizard, who is actually the beautiful witch Cassandra. Because of Mathayus's hesitation, Memnon's guards capture him and are about to kill him when Cassandra announces that she has had a vision and he is not to die by "Memnon's hand or any that he orders". Yeah, right. The movie takes off from there.

Yes, this movie is dumb and ridiculous, but it somehow manages to rise above that to bring us a truly enjoyable film.

"The Scorpion King" is short but sweet, running at a convenient 90 minutes.

Rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of action violence and some sensuality". Would be acceptable for around 10 and up.


Great action, good story.   April 18, 2002
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

When WWF superstar 'The Rock' decided to use his worldwide wrestling stardom as a segue into acting it was an enormous risk that paid off in 'The Mummy returns', but now it's time for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to step out in his own film, a prequel to the 'Mummy', 'The Scorpion' king.

The film was released on the 17th April in Australia and I had the chance to catch the first session in the country, and I have to admit I was very exited. I mean who wouldn't be? 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns' that have been dubbed `silly' by many were I feel two fabulous films. A wonderful mixture of action, comedy, romance and overall fun. 'The Scorpion King' follows this same formula, but misses the mark ever so slightly and thus loses marks in my books.

The film takes place before any of the pyramids have been built, back in the ancient land where warlord Memnon has conquered all the lands of the Old Kingdom, and where few people stand to fight his forces. When the scorpion king and his brother are sent to assassinate Memnon's sorcerer (who provides much of his power) they are caught and the scorpion king's brother is killed. This needless to say makes him very mad, and yearning for revenge. The story from here takes a turn when the scorpion king kidnaps the sorceress and consequently they fall in love.

The biggest plus the film offers is the amazing fight scenes, which are some of the best seen in a long time. In fact for a movie that has a run time of 110 minutes, probably 40 minutes of this is just the fighting. Wrestling fans may perhaps be disappointed that 'The Rock' doesn't do one 'Rock Bottom' or a 'People's elbow' is the course of the film, but in my mind this may have made the film feel a little hokey, relying on the wrestling angle too much.

So where does the problem fit in? Well 'The Scorpion King' isn't directed by Stephen Sommers (director of 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy returns') and believes me it shows. The screenplay has all the wit and sparkle the other films had, but often the directing lets it down, at times making the story line fit into the action, rather than the other way around. Occasionally the film suffers for this.

'The Rock' Dwayne Johnson puts in a commanding performance as 'The Scorpion King' and in my mind his style can be likened to Arnold Schwartzenegger, hey, lets not forget just as 'The Rock' is using wrestling as his foot in the door Arnie did the same with his bodybuilding. His characterization is commanding and his knowledge of choreographed action is visible, as the fight scenes are some of the best around. It also need to be seen the Michael Clarke Duncan ('The Green Mile') playing Balthazar is hilarious, I mean the guy is 'The Rock's' biggest fan in real life and here they are fighting together.

Arguably the most popular character in the other two films was Jonathan (John Hannah) in 'The Scorpion King' the character is rehashed in the form of an all but nameless horse thief. Admittedly the character is hilarious, but on occasion his quips fall a little flat, plus part of Jonathan's charm in the other films is his flawed British attitude towards life.

While 'The Scorpion King' lacks some of the charm 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy returns' possessed the film is nevertheless competent. The fight scenes are amazing and it easily holds up to any other action film out there. Even more so the film may serve Vince McMahon (executive producer) a way to gain some of his lost funds after the failure of XFL. This film is one that has to be watched in order to see the first major work of one of the futures greatest action stars in Dwayne Johnson. Overall a 3.5 star film.


easy on the brain, good fun   April 24, 2002
 19 out of 23 found this review helpful

If you liked Kull the Conqueror, I am sure you will enjoy the Scorpion King. It has a lot of the same tongue in cheek action/comedy elements. In theory it is a prequel to The Mummy Returns, although the connection is week. It is not as over the top and action packed as The Mummy Returns, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Wrestling superstar, The Rock, plays Matthias the Acadian who is a pretty dangerous fellow. The opening sequence was incredible - Matthias rescues his brother from the evil horde of crooked-teeth-folks single handedly. The bow that fires five arrows at once and knocks the people halfway across their camp was just what I was hoping to see. Unfortunately this same type of action is really not repeated later in the movie, it tends to get more realistic (hah, I feel ashamed for saying that, but note the use of the word more). Also, I have to admire the ancient sub-bikini styles and technology. From what I saw, modern times have really lost a lot in that area.

If you are looking for some good old fashioned entertainment, then I find no shortcomings in this movie. If you are looking for high drama or an intriguing plot, look elsewhere.


Charge!   December 4, 2002
 16 out of 19 found this review helpful

I went into this movie cold. I had no idea who "The Rock" was (I'd read about him, but somehow did not connect him with this film) I did not know "The Scorpion King" was supposed to be a prequel of the Mummy movies, neither of which I had seen. So me and my popcorn had a clear, unbiased mind.

The setting is long, long ago. Gommorah is still in business and gunpowder has yet to be invented. Arkkadian Assassin Mathayus (the Rock) has been hired to kill a sorcerer whose predictions are far too dependable. Mathayus' brother is tortured to death, and he vows revenge. When he discovers the sorcerer is a gorgeous young lady in a harem costume, he "liberates" her. His steed is a camel, the odds against him are never less than 50 to 1, and he lays them out like dominoes. After 90 minutes of mayhem, the good guys win the kingdom, the castle and the babe.

Dwayne Johnson was a charmer in this potboiler. He has almost too good a sense of humor (I thought he was going to crack up a few times over his ridiculous lines. Shades of Crosby and Hope in a "Road" picture!) His face is expressive, his movements agile, and he is definitely eye candy. I wish him well in a movie career. I think he would be a fine action hero. I felt sorry for his sidekick, Philos (Bernard Hill). The script was so bad that the feeble jokes he was forced to utter wouldn't get a giggle out of a pre-schooler. With the exception of a few reprehensible villains and mighty Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan), the cast was uniformly beautiful right down to the starving children.

The action is non-stop, so time passes quickly and all in all, I had a good time. "The Scorpion King" makes a good non-think rental. Laugh along with The Rock.
-sweetmolly-Amazon.com Reviewer


Better than I expected   July 1, 2002
 13 out of 17 found this review helpful

I enjoyed this movie. I've read some of the other reviews here, and some people have criticized the movie for being overly cliched and predictable. No doubt some people will say that the movie serves up its hunk of beefcake in all-too-predictable a fashion (don't you hate smart-assed reviewers who take themselves all too seriously?). But come on folks, this sort of action-packed thriller isn't meant to be analyzed or dissected in too much detail--it's meant to be fun, mindless entertainment--and in that regard, it succeeds very well. I was also pleasantly surprised to find The Rock (pro-wrestler Dwayne Johnson) has considerable on-screen presence, as he goes around offing bad guys right and left.

Not that The Rock has to carry the whole movie on his own considerable shoulders. The bad-guy king (Steven Brand) who The Rock is sent to assasinate and his sorceress (Kelly Hu) are also good in their roles, as is The Rock's sidekick (unfortunately I don't know the actor's name) who provides some comic relief, much in the same way that R2D2 and C3PO did in the first Star Wars movie (actually Lucas got the idea for the comic pair from one of Kurosawa's movies).

The swordplay and fight scenes are top-notch. And speaking of swordplay, big guy Michael Clarke Duncan also has an important role as the Nubian king, and his fight with the Rock is one of the climaxes of the movie, as he almost beats The Rock in a dramatic mano-a-mano sword battle. I'm not sure there were black Nubians, who were well-known in Roman times after the emperor Octavian conquered North Africa, living in Sumeria in 4000 BC, when the Akkadians lived in ancient Sumeria, but as I said, I don't really analyze movies like this too much. It gets in the way of the fun.

I don't know what ancient Akkadian or Sumerian sets would look like, either, but these seemed pretty realistic to me and added to the movie's overall ambience. (I'm sure King Sargon of Akkad would have approved even if they weren't--after all, the Akkadians haven't gotten much play in about 4000 years). This sort of action movie plays very well on the Big Screen, and I'm sure I enjoyed seeing it more in a theater as opposed to seeing it on TV.

All in all, a fun way to spend a Sat. or Sun. afternoon or evening. Big Steve says goes see it and don't "Bogart" the popcorn.