Susan Granger’s review of “THE SCORPION KING” (Universal Pictures)
Reminiscent of “Conan the Barbarian,” this a live-action comic-book and – as such – it’s filled with action-packed fun. Just as muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger conquered the screen as Conan, wrestler Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), after making his screen debut in “The Mummy Returns,” carves his niche with this adventure. He plays Mathayus, a heroic warrior descended from generations of Akkadian assassins skilled in the deadly arts, who rallies desert barbarians to rebel against the onslaught of an evil, scheming warlord named Memnon (Steve Brand). Memnon’s secret weapon is a seer who advises him how and where to attack – and he’s never lost a battle. So Mathays devises a plan to sneak into Memnon’s palace in the fabled city of Gomorrah and slay the visionary. But when he discovers it’s the beautiful, scantily clad Cassandra (Kelly Hu), he takes her hostage, jumps on his trusty white camel and disappears into the Valley of the Dead to determine his own destiny. At his side are a thief sidekick Arpid (Grant Heslov), for comic distraction, and the giant Nubian Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Writer/co-producer Stephen Sommers, along with fellow writers William Osborne, David Hayter and Jonathan Hales, was inspired by tales of a legendary Egyptian who ruled centuries before the building of the Great Pyramid, and director Chuck Russell builds on their campy, cartoony approach. While coping with fire ants, cobras and human hostility, The Rock’s bulging biceps match Schwarzenegger’s “Conan” potential, along with his stilted, monotone delivery of insipid lines of dialogue. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Scorpion” is a swashbuckling 7. What you see is what you get – and, if PG-13 sword-and-sorcery is what you’re buying, you get your money’s worth.
