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Scorpion King, TheEven before 2001's The Mummy Returns was released, the Universal producers were so enamoured of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who co-starred, that a spin-off vehicle was rushed into production. The Scorpion King is the result.
Long before Mathayus (Johnson) became the scorpion monster we see in crappy CGI at the denouement of The Mummy Returns, he was a an assassin for hire in the ancient world. This world is being conquered by the ruthless Memnon (Brand) - "the greatest swordsman the world had ever seen". With the aid of Cassandra (Hu), a sorcerer who can see into the future, Memnon seems unstoppable. The remnants of the unconquered tribes employ Mathayus to kill the seer, but they are betrayed! Escaping death, Mathayus returns to Memnon's city (er, Gomorrah) to kill the tyrant. He's foiled, but succeeds in taking Cassandra prisoner, hoping he can use her to lure out Memnon.
Johnson has sufficient action hero charisma, Russell (The Mask) is an able director and the film boasts a fair array of amusing scenes and action set pieces (a fight involving Johnson dwarfed by Clarke Duncan is certainly quite a sight) to entertain. It borrows from such fare as Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and Gladiator, but also takes cues from golden age swashbuckling yarns starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr (like The Thief Of Bagdad) or Errol Flynn (like The Adventures Of Robin Hood).
With its mish-mash of ancient cultures, scantily clad warrior women, hugely muscled (and similarly under-dressed) men, sneering 'English' bad guy, lame comedy sidekick (the vaguely racist Arab caricature Arpid, played by Heslov), elaborate fights and unfeasible leaps, The Scorpion King is a preposterous film. It starts off with some great violent slapstick. The prologue involves Mathayus saving his brother from some meat-head tribesmen. The scene is energetically choreographed and wonderfully silly. If the film had continued with this tone, it would have been enormous fun. Instead, it shifts down a gear and as such is simply easily forgotten fun.
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