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| The Scorpion King review by Dhyana Kearly |
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 | | | Duane "The Rock" Johnson stars in The Scorpion King |
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Grade: B
The Scorpion King tells the story of Egyptian warrior Mathayus (The Rock) during the reign of Memnon (Steven Brand) set 5,000 years ago.
Evil Memnon uses the talents of beautiful sorceress Cassandra (played by Kelly Hu) to gain military triumphs in his ambitions to take over the known world.
A band of beaten down renegades have united to wage a retaliation against the heretofore unbeatable Memnon. But, because of superstitions of the people they are afraid to attack while the sorceress still has Memnon's ear.
Enter Mathayus, one of few remaining muscular hit men from the Arkadian tribe. The deal is that Mathayus and his gang are supposed to kill the sorceress, then the rest of the renegades will follow suit and wage an all-out war to the death on Memnon.
The Scorpion King follows on the heels of The Mummy movies, and contains all of the tried and true special effects, tricks and triumphs. You've got to love the big showy productions that precede this film, and appreciate the continuing lack of reality factor, or else you might not appreciate how Scorpion King pans out.
The good thing is it never seems to take itself too seriously. There is wild electric guitar music playing in scenes where camels charge in the desert. There is plenty of big knife chopping off body parts, with a complete absence of blood or guts. And, we have high powered magnetism between the hero and the heroine, with no serious sex scenes to endure. There are also ample flashes of scantily clad women (mostly), but no serious nudity. What more could you ask for?
A mix of modern and ancient themes is a constant flow throughout the film. Memnon has a surprisingly non-Egyptian accent and he sports a curiously modern hairdo, as does his mega-diety statue in front of the castle. Mathayus and his cohorts, especially Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan), have a real aptitude for making cartoonishly ferocious faces underscoring the humor behind the script.
Although it might be easy to trash the script and the actors, I actually thought it was fun to watch this very predictable story unfold.
In fact, I thought The Rock did an commendable job with the role, playing it out exactly as it was meant to be played.
Rated PG=13 for intense sequences of action violence and some sensuality |
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