Dwayne
'The Rock' Johnson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu
Written by Jonathan Hales and Stephen Sommers
Produced by Jim Jacks, Stephen Sommers and Sean Daniel
Directed by Chuck Russell
Official
Website:
www.the-scorpion-king.com/
Trailer: Quicktime
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Review No. 1
Thousands of years ago, one man rises to stop the evil and ruthless
warlord Memnon (Steven Brand) from ruling the scattered peoples
of the desert. His name is The Scorpion King, better known to
you and me as The Rock.
In his
first starring role, The Rock plays Mathayus, a man descended
from a clan of assassins known as the Akkadians. Aware that
the wicked Memnon is guided to his many victories by the sorcerer
Cassandra (Kelly Hu), Mathayus is hired to kill her by the
few remaining free tribes. Basically those people who havent
yet been killed or enslaved by Memnon.
When he
gets a hold of Cassandra, he decides to take her as a hostage
rather than eliminate her. It doesnt hurt that he finds
her attractive. She tells him she sees visions of him dying
in battle. Mathayus tells her he doesnt believe her
and that he creates his own destiny.
Extremely
outnumbered, he gathers a bunch of odd characters as allies
and goes after Memnon in order to save his world from misery.
Full of
action and special effects, The Scorpion King cant rescue
itself from being an unsatisfying and badly made piece of
fluff.
You got
terrible overacting, a story that is an awful rehash of old
B movies and uninteresting characters that are stereotypes
of stereotypes that you have seen many times before.
The dreadful
dialogue alone turn this film into a comedy of errors that
only worsens as the movie goes through its paces.
If you
havent seen enough of The Rocks silly antics on
television during World Wrestling Federation matches and you
want more of that absurd misdirected overblown stupidity put
into a cinematic context than this film is for you.
Even not
taking it too seriously, The Scorpion King provides very little
entertainment and lots of boring overindulgence that doesnt
pay off in the least bit.
2
out of 5
GIL BENZEEVI
Review No 2
The spin off like the sequel has long been a staple of Hollywood.
Simply put, if a show is a success, and if sequels are pending,
then a new creation using situations, characters, or events
from the original may be a success on their own. The practice
has been successful in television as shows such as "Mork
and Mindy", "Joanie Loves Chachie", and "Laverne
and Shirley" all sprang from the success of "Happy
Days" The trend does not work as well in films as we
have the disasters of "Supergirl" and "Soldier"
as reminders.
While
the creators of the Mummy series are planning the third big
screen outing for Imotep and his legions, writer Jonathan
Hales and director Chuck Russell have devised a new series
based on a character from "The Mummy Returns" and
have created "The Scorpion King" The film stars
wrestler Dwane (The Rock) Johnson as Mathayus, one of the
few remaining members of his people who are noted for their
skills as assassins. It seems that a evil leader named Memnon,
(Steven Brand), has taken power by force and has destroyed
the few remaining tribes until only a handful from each remain
in opposition to him. Aided by a stunning sorcerer named Cassandra
(Kelly Hu), armies are powerless before Memnon as his sorcerer
can see what is to come and allow him to plan accordingly.
In a last ditch effort; a leader has hired Mathayus and his
men to kill the sorcerer thus allowing their forces to stand
against Memnon on equal footing.
Things
do not go as planned, and soon Mathyaus is battling for his
life in one action packed situation after another as he strives
to complete his task and find his destiny in doing so.
I expected
this film to be fairly uninspired as it was created very quickly
following last summers "The Mummy Returns" and seemed
to be little more than an excuse to cash in on the previous
films in the series. Instead, the film is an action packed
romp, which is enjoyable and lightweight. The characters in
the film have some jovial moments and this works well with
the action. Grant Heslov is good as a thief who seems to get
himself into trouble at every turn yet is a devoted and loyal
friend to Mathyus. The comedic banter flows well without seeming
forces and gave the impression that the cast was having a
good time making this film, as there seemed to be a genuine
chemistry amongst them. Johnson was good in the title role,
as he does not try to do more than he is capable of and works
well with the cast. He is capable of being tender and fierce
yet is capable of getting a laugh when the scene calls for
it. Kelly Hu is dazzling as Cassandra as her beauty and grace
light up the screen and bode well for her future work. She
seems to be having a great time with the character and even
gets involved in the action with Johnson and Michael Clark
Duncan when things get intense.
While
I could pick on the film for not having a very deep plot,
as you have seen this story in films ranging from "The
Beastmaster", "Conan" and "The Sword and
The Sorcerer" and some scenes borrow heavily from the
Indiana Jones films, I had a good time. I would like to have
seen a bit more depth to the character of Mathyus such as
how he came to be where he is, how his people were lost and
what motivates him, but for what it sets out to be "The
Scorpion King" works. This is a film that aims to be
a summer popcorn flick with a nod to the action serials that
inspired it and it works. The focus is on characters and action
rather than a deep plot and character depth. The film moves
at a brisk but never hectic pace and is a nice diversion for
90 minutes. Lets hope that should we see another Scorpion
King, the filmmakers take a lesson from the first one and
let the stars and the action carry the film rather than a
ton of special effects.
3
stars out of 5
Gareth Von Kallenbach
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