It isn’t great. It is hardly good, but it is fun.
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
The first two films in the "Mummy" franchise were huge hits. Dwayne Johnson, better known as "The Rock" was a huge hit in the formerly named World Wide Wrestling Federation. I suppose it only made sense for the producers of "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" to mix these elements together and create a spin-off film within the franchise. Mimic aspects of Arnold Schwarzenegger´s 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian" and it would seem likely that the resulting project would be a guaranteed hit. Well, the film made more than a few dollars at the box office, and was far from being a flop. However, it wasn´t nearly as successful as either of the two primary films in the franchise. Dwayne Johnson has hardly become as huge as Arnold did post-Conan, but he is still finding steady work in Hollywood. As was the case with the two Brendan Fraser films, "The Scorpion King" is a fun film, but with a plot that is even thinner than the stories of "The Mummy," this film is now a guilty pleasure at best.
"The Scorpion King" is a prequel to the two "Mummy" films. In "The Mummy Returns," Brendan Fraser´s character Rick O´Connell must battle the Scorpion King, a fearless king who earned his throne with a cursed deal with the god Anubis. This film tells the story of the rise of the Scorpion King and the events that occurred before the footage during the earlier parts of "The Mummy Returns." The Rock portrayed the character of Mathayus in "The Mummy Returns" and he provided his likeness for the horrendously created CGI monster that was the final monster for Rick O´Connell to defeat on the way of saving his son from certain death. The events that take place during this film have little to do with the eventual happenings during the two "Mummy" films, but it provided a way to capitalize on the success of those films and the legions of Rock fans out there who wanted to find out what he had cooking.
In the film, Mathayus (Johnson) is a mercenary who is sent to assassinate the sorceress of an evil and powerful ruler, Memnon (Steven Brand). He finds the sorceress Cassandra (Kelly Hu) and is unable to kill her and watches his brother die. Mathayus plans to avenge his brother and sneaks into Memnon´s castle to kidnap the sorceress. He succeeds, but realizes he does not have the might to topple Memnon and enlists the aid of an unfriendly rival, but sworn enemy of Memnon, Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Mathayus, Blathazar, a whiny thief Philos (Bernard Hill) and Cassandra mount an assault against Memnon that results in an epic battle, a few snappy one-liners and enough action to satisfy hardened fans of The Rock.
The plot of this film is extremely light, about as light as the amount of clothing most of the characters wear in the film. The storyline is written to take the viewer from Point A to Point B with as little twists and curves along the way. Along the ride, you get to see a few nice scenic vistas and the ride is hardly boring. There is little character development along the way, and everything is quite predictable. The sole purpose of "The Scorpion King" is to showcase the Rock´s bronzed and muscular physique and to highlight his ability to play a physical and entertaining action hero. There are lots of swordplay, impressive stunts and punches thrown. Nobody considers "Conan the Barbarian" to be classic cinema and nobody is going to ever consider "The Scorpion King" a classic either. Both films are fun and while it is only a spin-off, "The Scorpion King" carries on the tradition of the two "Mummy" films and looks impressive and delivers laughs, thrills and a couple chills.
Video:
"The Scorpion King" had a modest estimated budget of sixty million dollars. The film features a number of CGI effects and great outdoor scenes. However, the sets, locations and effects are not quite as impressive as either of "The Mummy" films. This film just looks and feels cheaper. Fortunately, the HD-DVD release does an admirable job of presenting the footage with a wonderfully detailed image that is colorful and visually beautiful. The film is showcased in 2.35:1 widescreen and a VC-1 mastered picture. The flip side of the HD-DVD contains the standard definition release of the film that looks absolutely awful when compared to the high definition side of the disc. The level of detail is just as strong as the first two films. Every contour of the Rock´s face is defined, as is every ounce of texture showcased in the film. Unfortunately, the level of detail betrays the computer generated effects. They stand out as being cartoonish and do not meld well with the live action captured by the cameras. Black levels are deep and true and shadow detail is strong. This is a visually striking film that certainly benefits the People´s Champ.
Sound:
The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack of "The Scorpion King" is strong and impressive, however, the multi-channel soundtrack of the film is not nearly as breathtaking as "The Mummy" or "The Mummy Returns." Where the soundtrack excels is in its deep and impressive bass surges of the .1 LFE channel. The sound effects were crisp and each metallic collision of bladed weapons is piercingly sharp. The rear surrounds are not used as heavily as they were in the other films, and much of the sound is reserved for the action sequences and contained in the front channels. There are a few effects that bleed to the rear surrounds, but the element contained mostly within their channels is the rock soundtrack. The soundtrack is one of the elements that I disliked with "The Scorpion King," as I would have preferred a cinematic score of orchestral music. While the soundtrack is quite agreeable to my ears, I felt it wasn´t nearly as impressive as either of the "Mummy" films.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20131[/release]