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The Scorpion King (2002) DVD Review
The Scorpion King (2002) DVD Credits:
The Scorpion King (2002) Directed by:
Chuck Russell
The Scorpion King (2002) Written by:
Stephen Sommers, William Osborne, David Hayter
The Scorpion King (2002) Cast:
Dwayne Johnson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu, Bernard Hill, Roger Rees, Ralf Moeller
The Scorpion King (2002) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
The Scorpion King (2002) DVD Release Date:
21st July 2008
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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The Scorpion King (2002) Synopsis:

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package.

The Scorpion King (2002) DVD Review:

The Scorpion King seemed to be riding on the success of the Mummy franchise, especially after the successful box office numbers from The Mummy Returns, which featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the role of The Scorpion King. It was the WWF star’s chance at a movie career, although with no dialogue and half of his scenes featuring a CGI scorpion version of the wrestler, it almost seemed a convenient personality to get a few more butts in the theater. All in all this is just good marketing, but the decision to make an offshoot film about The Scorpion King was a hasty and poor one. There is little actually relating to The Mummy films aside from the man referred to as The Scorpion King, but as soon as Dwayne Johnson raises his eyebrows just once it becomes quite clear what the film is about. Rather than relying on the fans of the films the story is supposed to be related to, the Scorpion King directs the film to the audiences of The Rock. As a result the film is campy and bad, just like the fake theatrics of wrestling that Johnson is accustomed to.

One thing that WWF and The Mummy films have in common is spectacle, and The Scorpion King oozes of this every opportunity. Arrows have the ability to launch victims 30-feet into the air and our protagonist often chooses the more creative means of fighting rather than the easiest, as if there were a crowd of wrestling fans sitting ringside cheering Mathayus (Johnson) to use his bow to strangle a man. The wrestling mixed with swashbuckling action isn’t altogether unsettling, but what pushes The Scorpion King into full camp quality is the mixing of modern humor in a story that takes place 5,000 years ago in Gomorrah. Jokes like “It’s not the size of the hump, it’s the motion of the camel” aren’t funny no matter what time period it is, but this along with the rock soundtrack show the nervousness the studio must have had producing a legitimate period film starring a wrestler.

Although Johnson was somewhat of a villainous character in The Mummy Returns, in The Scorpion King he is just a good killer. Somehow he seems to have lost any true evil, unable to hurt innocent people. Mathayus is one of the last remaining in his tribe and being known for killing he is hired for an assassination in order to bring down a warlord, Memmon (Steven Brand). When he is faced with the opportunity to kill the sorceress (Kelly Hu) he was hired to kill he is unable, it seems because she is beautiful. The next opportunity he gets she is naked and he doesn’t even seem to consider killing her. Instead he takes her with him, hoping to entice Memmon to come after him. With the help of Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan), another leader of a tribe, they plan a battle to take down the evil ruler. The outcome becomes obvious seconds after the plot is divulged, and even the action becomes dull shortly afterwards.

I can’t imagine that The Scorpion King would have been rushed onto high definition if it weren’t for the release of the latest film in the Mummy series, which resulted in the release of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns on Blu-ray. These were two excellent and understandable choices, and had The Scorpion King been included with them in a Blu-ray box-set I would not have been surprised. On its own it just seems an odd choice, and the special features, aside from the easier and convenient viewing of featurettes with the U-Control feature Universal Blu-ray uses, there are few advantages to having The Scorpion King on Blu-ray. Unless you are one of the strange and few that actually enjoy this film all of the way through, in which case I am sorry you have read this far.


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The Scorpion King (2002) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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