[ NEW ON VIDEO ]
‘The Scorpion King’
comes out on DVD
"The Scorpion King" is enjoyable for what it is, thanks to its matinee-styled adventure, some inspired set-ups and a larger-than-life action hero in The Rock. All in all, not too shabby for a film that reportedly went through numerous rewrites, re-shoots and a quick filming schedule.
"The Scorpion King"
Universal Studios, $26.98 (DVD)We first met the lead character in the previous year's "The Mummy Returns." Upon seeing the dailies for the characters' scenes, Universal gave the green light to a spinoff film and, in turn, a leading part for the wrestling superstar in what hopes to be the first of many for this newly anointed action movie star (post-Schwarzenegger, pre-Diesel).
"The Scorpion King" is a whimsical swords and sorcery adventure set in 3000 B.C. It's an escapade crammed with over-the-top action and calculatedly cheesy catch-phrase dialogue -- with the exception of "Can you smell what the king is cookin'?" The Rock plays Mathayus, a wiry assassin hired by the assembled miscellany of several defeated tribes to kill a sorcerer (Kelly Hu) who serves a powerful tyrant king who has decimated their homelands. Without supernatural guidance, the tribes, led by Michael Clarke Duncan, believe they can defeat the pitiless, psychopathic Memnon (Steven Brand) and his band of sturdy followers.
But instead of killing the comely sorcerer, The Rock ... um, Mathayus rescues her from the clutches of Memnon, then leads the united tribes in an attack against their turgid enemy.
The DVD comes with a multitude of extras, most notably an audio commentary by The Rock himself. His is the more interesting of the two offered, when compared with the wooden, monotonous delivery of director Chuck Russell. The Rock, at least, brings a bit of humor and zest to his commentary. While he knows little of the technical aspects of the movie, he revels in talking about some of the chemistry he had with his co-stars, and some of the tricks of his acting trade.
Star-Bulletin staff
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