Review of The Scorpion King (2002) by George E — 17 Sep 2012

Like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson this movie is an immensely cheesy though solid action flick which is one of my numerous guilty pleasures.

Mathayus (The Rock) is a fearsome desert warrior intent on grasping freedom for the people of his hometown. However, in order to accomplish this difficult feat he must defeat the vile, yet mighty leader Memnon (Steven Brand); in order to see out this plan, he kidnaps his Sorceress (Kelly Hu) after his initial attempts at murdering the fiend backfire.

Amid the corny features entailed and rather cheesy dialogue, The Scorpion King is a thrilling and well choreographed piece of film-making which doesn't lack on an entertainment scale. It has snippets of emotion rendered with it but due to the script writing, it's easy to lose this on top of the camp style.

The Rock and Steven Brand make excellent leading roles; the former has charisma and charm in his performance whilst Brand portrays the sadistic and angry villain to high standards. Though it can be said that much of the remaining cast were poorly characterised - needed developing further.

Overall, The Scorpion King is one of my guilty pleasures because of its thrilling action sequences, The Rock and the effects. Easy-going, nothing complex, just free flowing popcorn entertainment!

UPDATE: Michael Clarke Duncan sadly recently passed away on September 3 2012 after an unfortunate heart attack. I believed Michael was a great actor and gained particular praise for his roles in The Green Mile and Daredevil. He also put in a decent performance for The Scorpion King. You made your friends, family and film fans proud! Rest In Piece, Michael.