Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: The Rock, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Michael Clarke Duncan, Grant Heslov
Director: Chuck Russell
All hail the new Schwarzeneggar – The Rock – has landed on the movie scene, and in a big way.
The Rock’s brief appearance in THE MUMMY RETURNS disappointed many people, especially the vast fan base of the wrestling world, not because of his performance but because of the small amount of time he had on screen. So to satisfy the public and to make a few bucks at the same time, a spin-off was created in the form of THE SCORPION KING. Not just an extended performance from the man himself but a whole movie with The Rock as the star.
Way back in the old days in Egypt, Mathayus (The Rock) is one of the final three of his race, his entire people have been wiped out and now the three hire themselves out as hired guns or rather hired swords and knives. In their case they are brought in by a consortium of tribes, who are under threat, to kill Memnon (Steve Brand), the leader of an army of Barbarians, who is trying to become ruler of the known world.
Memnon is advised on his army’s tactical moves by Cassandra (Kelly Hu) a sorceress with the power to see into the future and guide him to victory. However Cassandra isn’t happy, so when Mathayus attempts to assassinate Memnon she uses the confusion to depart – with Mathayus. As the story unfolds Mathayus realises that Cassandra has not been a willing participant in the takeover of the world and as Cassandra is a hot babe who wears a great skimpy outfit, they fall in love…of course!
It’s all great fun stuff, adventure, action, romance, great looking girls in the aforementioned skimpy Egyptian costumes – and more action – and it all flows at an enjoyably fast pace. I even almost didn’t wonder why The Rock has what appeared to a handy steel cable gadget to uses to glide into an action hot spot with.
The Rock plays his part very well and really does have great screen presence. Kelly Hu should possible be renamed Kelly ‘Wow’, I’m sure we’ve got a new movie heroine here.
I couldn’t possibly help noticing the parallels with Schwarzeneggar’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN and The Rock’s THE SCORPION KING, both impressively built hero type tough guys here to save the day. Arnie’s still got plenty of TERMINATORS left in him, so for a while at least we now have two action stars on the screen capable of saving the world with pure muscle and big guns, or in this case swords. Great movie fun!
