“The Scorpion King” Movie Review

    In what seems like forever ago, Universal Studios was heavily invested in their Mummy franchise.  “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” were hugely successful endeavors and the studio had signed a contract with a then little known Dwayne Johnson who was primarily known as The Rock in the WWE.  As far as wrestling, he was a star, outside of wrestling however, he was a nobody.  Universal Studios gambled heavily on The Rock and gave him his own Mummy spin-off entitled “The Scorpion King”.  The film was a moderate success but helped launch Dwayne Johnson into superstardom.
    “The Scorpion King” is nothing Earth shatteringly original and at times feels like the type of film Arnold Schwarzenegger might have made in the 1980s.  In fact, it is very much like Schwarzenegger’s Conan films in style and entertainment value.  Dwayne Johnson makes for the perfect substitute thankfully.
    Much of the film relies on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s screen presence and thankfully, he seems very at ease in the role of Mathayus, also known as the Scorpion King.  The cast is also enhanced by the late Michael Clarke Duncan whose sheer size alone commanded attention.  Johnson and Duncan played off each other well and it was a shame the two didn’t work together more often.  One complaint I have is that Bernard Hill was criminally underused.  On the other hand, Kelly Hu shined as the Sorceress.  I would have thought her film career would have taken off more after this film.
    The biggest problem with this film was that the ending didn’t connect with the beginning of “The Mummy Returns”.  Clearly they wanted to leave the door open for sequels.  Unfortunately, the sequels ended up coming in the form of direct to video films.  Those films as a whole left a lot to be desired and it is sad Dwayne Johnson didn’t return to the role of Mathayus.
    “The Scorpion King” isn’t a perfect film and it had a definite Robert E. Howard vibe to it but it was also ultimately satisfying.  The film also makes for an entertaining addition to “The Mummy” franchise.

Grade: B