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Yar, you be here: The Scorpion King (Widescreen Collector's Edition) > Customer Reviews The Scorpion King (Widescreen Collector's Edition) Customer Reviews (25 - 27 of 42 Reviews)entertaining enough to get the job done
The Scorpion King is a character introduced in The Mummy Returns, but we go way back in time in this prequel to meet the character and see how he rises to power The Rock's character is named Mathayus in this movie. He is among the last survivors of his tribe called the Arkadians who are known as highly skilled assassins. The land and all of the tribes are being conquered by an evil guy with a bad haircut named Memnon who with the aid of a sorceress is seemingly unstoppable. Mathayus is hired to kill Memnon's sorceress and quickly finds himself in a battle against the King's entire army. Or something like that. in my opinion It doesn't matter what the plot is! What everyone goes to this movie to see is The Rock laying the smackdown on a bunch of rooty poo candy [...]. And that's exactly what you get. The movie feels kind of like Conan with a 68 million dollar budget. There are tons of pricey special effects and a fight breaks out every few minutes as the film moves along at a very rapid pace. The Rock does well, his charisma does come through on screen. He did his own stunts and more than makes the fights look good A stand-up kind of barbarian
The CONAN THE BARBARIAN sequel fans have been clamoring for in all but name, this fast-paced bit of good-natured idiocy tells the backstory of the Scorpion King, whose fearsome reputation was established in THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001). Five thousand years ago, a ruthless conqueror named Memnon (Steven Brand) swept across the Middle East, slaughtering all who stood in his path. An uneasy coalition of displaced, decimated tribes hires three Akkadian mercenaries - the last of their tribe - to kill Memnon's sorceress, the beauteous Cassandra (Kelly Hu). Once the seer, whose visions have led Memnon to one victory after another, is dead, the tribes will band together and face Memnon's armies on a level playing field. Head mercenary Mathayus (professional wrestler The Rock) is quickly caught up in a series of betrayals and counter-betrayals that lead him to kidnap Cassandra, adopt a charming street urchin (Branscombe Richmond) and a comical horse thief (Grant Heslov), and forge unlikely alliances with Nubian warrior Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan) and nutty inventor Philos (Bernard Hill), whose workshop is filled with cool stuff like catapults and gunpowder. For all of its up-to-the-minute stylistic affectations - rapid-fire editing, heavy metal music, CGI effects, and WWF-style flips, body slams and head butts - this free-wheeling adventure captures the spirit of cheesy, Arabian Nights-style romps of the '40s and '50s. It's filled with scantily dressed harem girls, muscle-bound warriors, exotic street fairs, fire ants, fabulous desert cities and a super-smart trained camel - all that's missing is a genie. And it never takes itself too seriously, which is a blessing: Nonsense of this kind played for Nietzschean über-menschery is embarrassing. This movie's Scorpion King-to-be is a far nicer fellow than the one who appeared to brief-but-memorable effect in THE MUMMY RETURNS. Sure, he's a trained killer who murders for money, but he respects ladies, is kind to children and never, ever goes back on his word - all in all, a stand-up kind of barbarian. It's impossible to overstate how deeply dumb all of this is, but it skims along at a brisk clip and manages not to overdo the nudge-nudge, wink-wink humor.
The story is just an OK thing, with so many loud echoes coming from many other previous films including "The Mummy" franchise, but it's no surprise, considering that it was partly written by Stephen Sommers, the director of the two "Mummy"s. Moreover, you get some sense like "I have seen this before": Kelly Hu's character reminds us of "the Bond Girl" Jane Seymore played in "Live and Let Die," and the bond between The Rock and his brother as the last members of the clan naturally goes back to "The Last of the Mohicans." But, who seeks for originality in this place when all you need is an exciting popcorn film, which entertains us all with its action-packed story? And "The Scorpion King" attains its goal as such. You will have what the poster of the film promises: many scenes of swords clushing, The Rock riding a camel in a desert, and sexy Kelly Hu, real scene-stealer. The director Chuck Russel, after the awful "Bless the Child," came back with his sure handling of actions he showed in "Eraser" and about The Rock himself, he did his homework well, showing not-so-bad acting, but we all know that he can act ... he has done it well on WWF broadcasting, you know. And see how he shows a sense of humor (check out the harlem scene where he raises his eyebrow, as he always does), but, see, that's what his fans already know. If The Rock keeps on acting with this pace, keeping in mind his humorous side, probably he turns out successfully as an action film hero, and this movie is good enough to prove his promising prospect, though it has no originality, and nothing new except lovely Hu. In short, "The Scorpion King" gives what a good and old action flicks should give, and a good, solid starting point for the Rock, the action star. The film is executive-produced by Vince McMahon (who else?).
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