The Scorpion King (2002)

A desert warrior rises up against the evil army that is destroying his homeland. He captures the enemy's key sorcerer, takes her deep into the desert and prepares for a final showdown.

Director:

Chuck Russell

Writers:

Stephen Sommers (story), Jonathan Hales (story),

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Michael Clarke Duncan

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dwayne Johnson	...	Mathayus (as The Rock)
Steven Brand	...	Memnon
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Balthazar
Kelly Hu	...	The Sorceress
Bernard Hill	...	Philos
Grant Heslov	...	Arpid
Peter Facinelli	...	Takmet
Ralf Moeller	...	Thorak
Branscombe Richmond	...	Jesup
Roger Rees	...	King Pheron
Sherri Howard	...	Queen Isis
Conrad Roberts	...	Chieftain
Joseph Ruskin	...	Tribal Leader
Esteban Cueto	...	Third Akkadian
Nils Allen Stewart	...	Torturer

Storyline

In an ancient time, predating the pyramids, the evil king Memnon is using the psychic powers of his sorceress Cassandra to fortell his great victories. In a last ditch effort to stop Memnon from taking over the world, the leaders of the remaining free tribes hire the assassin Mathayus to kill the sorceress. But Mathayus ends up getting much more than he bargained for. Now with the help of the trickster Arpid, tribal leader Balthazar and an unexpected ally, it's up to Mathayus to fufill his destiny and become the great Scorpion King.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | king | sorceress | destiny | scorpion | 

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Taglines:

Warrior. Legend. King.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and some sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany Belgium

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

El rey escorpión

Filming Locations:

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - 200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$880,633 (France) (10 May 2002)

Gross:

$90,341,670 (USA) (21 June 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Alphaville Films, BT Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dwayne Johnson/The Rock's payday of $5.5 million made the Guinness Book Of Records for the highest salary for a first-time leading man.

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Goofs

One of the first times we see Balthazar, we can clearly see the adhesive for the fake scar on his right cheek which is coming loose.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[the barbarian chieftain is holding up a skull]
Barbarian Chieftain: We have killed Babylonians!
[the barbarians cheer, he holds up another]
Barbarian Chieftain: We have killed Mesopotamians!
[the barbarians cheer]
Barbarian Chieftain: But we have never had the pleasure of killing... an Akkadian.
Jesup: [Tied up] May the gods have pity on you, for my brother will not.
[Mathayas storms in and kills the Barbarians]

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Connections

Featured in The Fiery Swords Scene: 'The Scorpion King' (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Marching-In"
Written by Sho Kosugi
Performed by The Taiko Drummers

User Reviews

So he's...the bad guy?

Okay, I'm confused. The Mummy Returns portrays the Scorpion King as some evil tyrant who wants to take over the world by smiting any and all civilizations in his way. But that's exactly the opposite of the same character in his very own movie. In fact he struggles to overthrow an evil ruler for those very reasons.

So when, and why, did he become bad? I'm afraid I'm not following this. The movie, however, is entertaining, if rather short and silly. Chuck Russell tries to cram in loads of fighting and hokum as he can. It works and The Rock is very cool as said King (or Mathayus) and former Jason victim Kelly Hu is gorgeous as the scantily-clad Cassandra. Grant Heslov and Michael Clarke Duncan fill out their usual roles as ethnic comic-relief and big, muscley guy.

The film has slightly less integrity to it than the Mummy movies. This is evident with the fun and lively, but completely inappropriate, score by John Debney. I'm not expecting anything like his Passion of the Christ score but blaring death metal guitars seem kinda out of place in a movie set 3000 years BC.

But this movie is a cheeseburger, not a 17-course dinner. So why bother complaining. After all it's a prequel of a sequel of a movie that was a re-make of a movie that was made in the 30's. But it's well made and loads of fun so just go along with it and you'll enjoy.

Filmed in Panavision the DVD is in perfect 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with very loud and thrilling Dolby/DTS 5.1 sound. The extras are fluff, but that's to be expected.