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Basically the plot is that an all-conquering king, Memnon
(Steven Brand), has emerged and is proving unstoppable. Not
only has he a massive army, but he is advised by a sorceress
(Kelly Hu) who can predict victory.
To fight Memnon's advancing hordes, a decision is made to
try to assassinate him and if that can't be done then at least
bump off the sorceress.
The attempt is to be made by three Akkadians, the only surviors
of their race, and they are led by one Mathayus (The Rock).
But what starts as a tough assignment becomes an almost impossible
one when the plot is betrayed and Mathayus finds himself buried
up to his neck awaiting a very nasty death by fire ants.
Helped to escape by a horse thief called Arpid (Grant Heslov),
Mathayus gets into Memnon's palace only to be discovered,
and he kidnaps the sorceress in a bid to entice the king into
coming after him.
That fails as Memnon only sends a patrol of warriors after
him and during the ensuing battle - one of the best of some
very fine action scenes - Mathayus is stabbed with an arrow
poisoned with scorpion venom.
We won't go into the ins and outs of what happens next, except
to say there is a lot of fighting, swordplay and terrific
stuntwork.
The Scorpion King is very much The Mummy in
flavour, however, it doesn't have the same delightful quality
that made the latter so appealing.
The Rock is no Brendan Frazer, but he plays his role strictly
as a fighter and does a pretty good job in the acting stakes.
Look, he's a hell of a lot better than Arnie was in Conan
so he's off to a good start.
Brand's Memnon is a straight-up-and-down ruthless and he
doesn't ham up the role at all. This adds weight and majesty
to his character, and a degree of seriousness to the whole
story.
Hu is enchanting as the sorceress and while there are similarities
to Solitaire (from 007's Live and Let Die), she more
than matches The Rock's on-screen presence.
Michael Clarke Duncan has a fairly important part to play
as a rebel chief and the by-play between he and The Rock is
rather fun.
The video transfer is excellent. The images are crisp, clear
and filled with detail and the sound is near-perfect. Listening
to the surround speakers getting a good workout brings joy
to the ears of this reviewer.
As said before, this is no The Mummy, however it is
a fun adventure that will have you cheering for the goodies
and booing the baddies. You can't ask for more than that!
Conclusion: Movie 80%, Extras 25%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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