The Scorpion King (2002)

Mathayus is a legendary warrior but his people face a deadly foe in the form of Memnon and his evil army that is sweeping through the lands. Despatched to assassinate Memnon, Mathayus is forced to save a child and misses his opportunity. Fleeing the city, he kidnaps Memnon's sorcerer Cassandra (who he is also meant to kill) and heads into the desert. Deep in the Valley of the Dead, he intents to use Cassandra to draw Memnon out of the safety of his loyal city and into the desert where he will be more vulnerable and easier to kill.

Despite not being impressed at all by Mummy Returns, I thought I would veg out in front of this prequel/sequel/spin off thing which was just as well since vegging out mindlessly in front of it is pretty much all it is good for. The plot is essentially a collection of action scenes held together by some overly-serious plot with a bit of flesh and titillation thrown in just in case the teens get restless. It is very derivative and very obvious and, if you are actually paying much attention to it then you'll find it pretty tiresome at times. Of course in my brainless state I found it to be brightly colourful and noisy which was enough to keep my eyes busy and let my head rest. It would have been much more fun if the material had had its tongue in its cheek and allowed the performances to match this, but by taking itself a bit too seriously at times it only ends up looking silly.

The Rock is a solid star for this sort of thing but he isn't very versatile – he needs the material to match him rather than the other way round. By having a big character in an overly serious tale, he looks ill at ease and doesn't suit it that well. Brand is a by-the-numbers villain who fills the role but not much else. Hu is undoubtedly attractive and at first I felt that she was being exploited by having her in tiny clothes and as much flesh as possible; however then I watched her performance and realised she was just playing to her strengths. Duncan takes himself too seriously and his scenes lack fun – surprisingly even in the action scenes. Support from Hill, Heslov and others don't do much other than fill out the cast.

Overall then a fairly bland, uninspiring action movie that lacks excitement, tension, characters, story and indeed fun (which is where the biggest problem lies). It is probably enough of a film to satisfy teenage genre fans but I must confess that there was so little that was special that I could barely care about it when it was on and found it unmemorable by the time it was finished.

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In the '80s and '90s, Arnold Scharzennegar was the King of Hollywood action films. But nothing is forever. With the The Scorpion King, there seems to be a new pretender to the throne ...The ROCK! More charismatic and certainly a better actor (but then again, who isn't?) Than "AHNULD" was 20 years ago, The Rock, here appearing in his first title role, has had the good fortune that the film, and his participation in it, seems to have been relatively successful in every sense of the word!

"Scorpion" from beginning to end, is a roller coaster of action, adventure, intrigue, romance, magic and beautiful women. A Hollywood capsule of pure adrenaline. If there is anyone in the family who does not like movies of this genre, hard not to be entertained by this minor gem. But Be forewarned! Scorpian may not be the most suitable of films for kids under 9 or 10.....

7.5*STARS*Â…....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

In what has been marked as a very anticipated film this summer, I bet you hands down that it is the only one which doesn't fall short. The Scorpion King comes through with great action, romance for all the ladies, girlfriends and Rock-ets, as well as comedy, and SNL shows how well The Rock does comedy (Not to mention the WWF!). This film takes time out to laugh at its self, which you have to respect an action film that knows it is not an Oscar winner. Overall, a movie that makes you say, "Now that was worth 8 bucks!" and really mean it this time. I thought that the movie had everything it promised and then some. A good beginning to what looks like a long run for The Rock in film. If you haven't seen this film yet - what is wrong with you!? Go...go now! The summer rush is just starting, and an old fashion "Conan"-style Action spectacular is just the way to kick it off!

The Scorpion King fmovies. Stephen Sommers, who wrote and directed "The Mummy" 1999 and "The Mummy Returns" 2001, also co-wrote the story and the screenplay, and co-produced "The Scorpion King" this year!

The Mummy energy, practically a trademark of Sommers, is definitely encompassed in this entertaining action/legend movie of "The Scorpion King." Led by Dwayne Johnson "The Rock" as Mathayus the Warrior with a heart, lovely Kelly Hu as Cassandra the Sorceress and object of beauty, sought by Steven Brand as Memnon the convincing evil menace of it all, and Michael Clarke Duncan as the equally brave ally Balthazar to Mathayus, this is your basic good vs. evil story splashed with fun and suspense - almost like an animated Disney film but with real live actors. An action packed myth/legend of a story, with humor/laughter sprinkled here and there at good pacing, along with special/digital effects, I almost felt at times it feels like the epic animation "Princess Mononoke," where they have the villagers (tribes here) rounding up and backing the heroine (Mathayus here) and fighting to get rid of the evil source (Memnon here.)

Other films have similar themes before: an earlier endeavor of Stephen Sommers, who wrote and directed "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book" 1994, with Jason Scott Lee, Sam Neill, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey and John Cleese; director Xavier Koller's (received Oscar's Best Foreign Film "Journey of Hope" 1990) "Squanto: A Warrior's Tale" 1994; not forgetting director Richard Donner's "LadyHawke" 1985 with Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Alfred Molina.

If you want to escape and have an enjoyable action movie, to forget your stress and strains beyond the world of cinema, go for it!

Not particularly enjoying either Mummy flick, one might think that I wasn't looking forward to this. It's actually the other way around; with Sommers out of the director's chair, there was hope for something good. And really, as long as you don't think that this is more than it is, you may enjoy it. Think of Conan. Yes, this is a sword-and-sorcery adventure picture. No, it's not that compelling of one, but it can be entertaining. If you wondered where the titular character of this came from, well, here is... uh... some of that story. They do say that the first step of any journey is the hardest, so perhaps it is fitting that this isn't that great of a movie. The Rock has zero charisma(he needs to assign experience points to that), and while there are one or two talented actors(Michael Clarke Duncan... why?) in this, there is no impressive performances. Steven Bland... sorry, Brand... makes a decent enough villain. The kids are nearly the worst of the bunch, second only to the never chuckle-worthy, always irritating comic relief(thankfully, he gets bashed in the head a few times). While I don't understand why they went for so much Jackie Chan(meaning, with props) martial arts, I gotta say, the fighting is pretty cool and can be exciting. Director Chuck Russell(of The Mask and Eraser) gets about all that he can out of the extremely clichéd script, and makes a film that can be fun, if you're in the mood for it. Also, it deserves mention that he, probably realizing that it wasn't going to turn out that excellent, peppered it with hot chicks, many of them showing off cleavage. My god, Kelly Hu spends what appears to the majority of her screen-time with her legs entirely uncovered(well, as close as she could possibly get without this losing its PG-13 rating)! There is sensuality and mild violence, as well as a bit of potentially disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of this sub-genre. 6/10

Well, before I watch this, I thought it would be good , but unfortunately I was wrong. the story was ok, the acting was cheesy , the heavy metal music was bad idea for a story that happened 3000 years BC. so my recommendation is : if you have nothing to do and you want to kill some times, go watch this, but don't expect too much .

4/10