The Scorpion King

It is funny to me how my opinions can change. I remember watching the first two Mummy movies starring Branden Fraser and liking them enough. When The Scorpion King came out in 2002 I had absolutely no interest in it. A few weeks ago a reference to this movie made me desire to see it and boy am I glad that I did. It is an action-adventure film directed by Chuck Russell, and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan. It is a Prequel/spin-off of The Mummy Returns and features the story of Mathayus the Scorpion King, the central character in The Mummy Returns, although this movie is placed 5,000 years later.

This movie is in the same tone as such films as Kull the Conqueror and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is an enjoyable movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This movie was the debut for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson a former World Wrestling Federation star. I think he made the transition well. His first appearance in the movie, a scenes were he rescues his brother from certain execution, really sets the tone of the film. I won’t give it away to what he does but it is both creative and very funny.

Johnson plays Mathayus the last true Akkadian mercenary, along with his half-brother, Jesup, and friend, Rama, is hired by King Pheron to kill a sorcerer, whose prophetic powers allow the vicious Egyptian Emperor Memnon to rule his empire with an iron fist. When trying to kill the sorcerer Jesup and Rama are killed and when he reaches the sorcerer Mathayus notices she is a beautiful woman named Cassandra. Mathayus is captured but before Memnon can kill him, Cassandra has a vision that if he is killed anyone who kills him will incur the wrath of the gods. Therefore unable to kill Mathayus himself, Memnon has him buried to his neck in the sand to have fire ants eat his head. With the help of the horse thief Arpid, whom Mathayus had encountered earlier, he manages to escape. The two begin a quest to defeat Memnon. I won’t give away too much more of the plot but it involves teaming up with Cassandra to join them in their quest.

Grant Heslov plays Arpid and provides much comic relief to the movie. Bernard Hill as Philos a crazy scientists. You may remember Hill as King Theoden from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and as Captain of the Titanic. One of Mathayus’s nemesis, and later friend, is Balthazar played by the late and greatly missed Michael Clarke Duncan. I found a bit of the spirit of the Indiana Jones franchise in this movie in that Mathayus and his compatriots are often placed in precarious situations only to extricate themselves in the nick of time.

I am glad I opened my mind to this film. If you have not seen this film and enjoy a good lighthearted, fun, sword and sandals fantasy then I highly recommend this film.