The Scorpion King (2002) Review

“Catch this”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7nmYiZ6cAg

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

A beginning of one ruler always leads to the preludes to another.


PLOT


2002’s The Scorpion King takes place around 3000 BC, before the time of the pyramids. There was once a ruler named Memnon who conquered local tribes thanks to the use of the sorceress Cassandra that would foresee any attack. Mathayus is one of the few survivors of the Akkadian empire along with his half brother Jesup (Branscombe Richmond) & ally Rama (Esteban Cueto). They are hired by King Pheron (Roger Rees) to kill the sorceress in hopes to gain advantage over the conqueror. That doesn’t go as planned due to being betrayed by his son Takmet who kills his father for financial gain. This would too lead to Jesup & Rama getting killed, and Mathayus would be left buried to his neck in the desert to be devoured by fire ants. He’s able to escape with the assist of a horse thief named Arpid. Vowing revenge, he seeks into Memnon’s stronghold known as Gomorrah. He’s able to reach his training quarters thanks to the child street urchin Tutu (Tutu Sweeney) and court magician Philos. He ends up backtracking when choosing to save Tutu from losing his arms for accused thievery. He is able to escape Gomorrah with Arpid and takes Cassandra with him. Memnon sends a battalion after them and Mathayus is able to wipe the latter out on his own in the middle of a sandstorm, but the general Thorak (Ralf Moeller) is able to stab him with an arrow dipped in scorpion venom before dying. By the time the storm passes, Cassandra uses her magic to cure him out of belief he is the best hope to bring about peace in Egypt via defeating Memnon. She stays with him due to the fact the king has kept her prisoner since she was a child. When moving forward the next day, they as well as Arpid run into Philos testing explosive powder and they all get ambushed by the Nubian king, Balthazar, who runs a free tribe and fears ever  being slain by Memnon. The trio end up being allowed to stay when Mathayus beats him in combat and earns his respect. As they stay however, Cassandra would have two different visions, one of Memnon slaughtering the camp and another of Mathayus dying. She tells this to him, but he assures him he’ll make his own destiny before they consummate their love via intercourse. Only after this does Cassandra decide to leave the camp and return to Memnon hoping to prevent both visions from happening. Upon noticing his absence, Mathayus leads a rescue mission. He sneaks in with Balthazar leading a rebel attack that in turns gives him the opportunity to successfully avenge Pherom by killing Takmet, while Arpid & Philos plant the powder in one of Gomorrah’s tunnels to destroy its foundation. In the midst of saving Cassandra, the Akkadian does get shot by a guard as she foresaw, but she kills said guard which gives the protagonist his chance to shoot Memnon with his bow & arrow. With a victory at hand, Memnon’s remaining army bow before him by ancient law and proclaim his as king. Balthazar would bid farewell when returning to his people and while Cassandra warns this era of prosperity will be temporary, the film ends with the scorpion king reassuring he’ll still make his own destiny. 


THOUGHTS


I’m honestly not sure if any adult in the early 2000s really wanted this specific spinoff of The Mummy to unfold considering there’s a lot of Egyptian  lore to explore within thousands of years. There was only one truth to this scenario however, people had grown to quickly be in awe of the star power to Dwayne Johnson due to his pro wrestling persona, ‘The Rock’. And with enough respect given to his brief appearance in The Mummy Returns where he first played Mathayus, it seemed enough of an excuse for the spotlight to fully shine on him before the rest of action packed career would play out. When it comes down to it, Director Chuck Russell and the writing team of Stephen Sommers, Jonathan Hales, William Osborne & David Hayter are able to make it as simplistic and formulaic fun you want from an action movie of any time period. John R Leonetti’s cinematography and the editing by both Greg Parsons and Michael Tronick really get the point across on how exhilarating ancient Egypt was one way or another. Having also done costumes for the two previous Mummy movies, John Bloomfield does a great job continuing to make an amazing aesthetic as does Ed Verraux’s production design. When I watch this as an adult after the many times seeing it as a kid, I do kind of wonder what is the point of this story if we know the character is bound to have his own downfall? Reminder, this so called protagonist would sell his soul to Anubis for power so you’re bound to have second thoughts by the end of it. In one way, this is supposed to be an example of how Destiny is more in line to be made instead of being given because as long as you don’t change your nature, things can go the way you want it to be. The Rock appropriately portrays Mathayus at first as one who is all about fighting for his survival but the longer he fights, the more he sees he’s not the only one in a similar predicament. He’s all about revenge and honor, and he becomes one of the few to balance it just right. He wasn’t someone who was seeking power originally and it seems that it became something he wanted down the line because that is what meant all the more survival for him. It does also sound ideal of him since he is one who lost so much, but it of course doesn’t condone making a deal with a demon like Anubis. At the very least, it felt good seeing him be happy just once before it all fell apart since he chose to try doing good before he changed that. In any case, Steven Brand is supposed to be worse as Memnon since he too was overdoing it in controlling his narrative by committing genocide almost everywhere he went, but the difference is that he doesn’t know what loss is which is why it’s easy to go against him. And Takmet was a fucking joke no matter how hard Peter Facinelli sells in making him an ideal schemer because he’s just a goon without his dad which makes his decision pointless. While Bernard Hill and Grant Heslov equally gave the right amount of energy in their given time as Philos & Arpid in their given time, but the true standout I can’t get enough of is Michael Clarke Duncan. I totally dig him as Balthazar because he’s the only one who has a clear conscience in wanting to think ahead. He’s thinking about his people 24/7 and has to think of the greater good, hence ideal hesitance towards Mathayus. Once he saw firsthand what a great fighter he was, he too understood he’s not alone fighting for a cause. Knowing this, it’d be a shame knowing they had to cross paths again as enemies when it led to the deal with Anubis. Last but not least, Kelly Hu also stirred up the pot very well as Cassandra because she does her best avoiding being a damsel in distress and uses her intelligence to be a resilient figure. I mean seeing her let luck be at hand when it came to pretending to Memnon she still had her sight when putting her hand in jars containing snakes. She fell for Mathayus because she was in awe he saw more than a weapon and he fell for her because she saw the good in him for the first time after his brother. Sadly, losing her sight led to his downfall. While I credit this film for being solid entertainment, there were some things I wish were done differently. Like it’s so dumb Memnon doesn’t run for it when Mathayus got his arrow ready, but then I still wonder how did Cassandra know how to fight if she’s been a prisoner since childhood? I mean it sounds unlikely for a prisoner  to have that advantage and if she was a prisoner, maybe Memnon should’ve not been so trustworthy of every vision she foresaw because she could’ve orchestrated him walking into a trap. There was a point where I wonder how did Balthazar know who Cassandra was if he’s never been to Gomorrah before, but my head explodes off of the fact the guards never throw Arpid in a cell if he’s a horse thief. Hell, even Takmet could’ve taken the rubies back from Mathayus if he didn’t want to lose wealth. Other than that, The Scorpion King is a straight forward spinoff that knew what it was and lets loose. If you enjoyed the previous Mummy movies, then I hope you like this as well.