Amy Reviews: THE SCORPION KING

Directed by Chuck Russell
Written by Stephen Sommers, William Osborne and David Hayter, based on a story by Mr. Sommers and Jonathan Hales
Music by John Debney
Running time: 88 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The Rock, AKA Dwayne Johnson, rocks in the movie The Scorpion King, a prequel to The Mummy Returns (2001), both fantasy-adventure genre films that offer mindlessly enjoyable entertainment not meant to be taken seriously.

A WWF veteran and relative newcomer to the acting trade, The Rock nevertheless possesses tremendous charisma -- along with the requisite great looks (thanks to his half African-American/half Samoan background) and the impressive, athletic physique -- to star in the eponymous role and do a damned fine job! He seems to be having such a good time that his energy and appeal can carry the audience along with him -- if they can let go and just have fun.

Unlike the SPFX-fest of The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King represents an homage to predecessor pictures like Conan the Barbarian (1982), Conan the Destroyer (1984) and even to vintage fare like the Sinbad series and the great sword-and-sandal epics of yore. Set some five thousand odd years ago in an archaic period "before the pyramids," The Scorpion King's background was conceptualized, (much to my amusement from an autodidactic scholar of ancient pre-industrialized civilizations' point of view), as a hodge-podge of elements from a widely disparate and anachronistic melange of Nilotic and Fertile Crescent cultures. This enhanced the tongue-in-cheek atmosphere that pervades the whole endeavor, yet allowed production designer Ed Verreaux to indulge in wildly imaginative and dazzling set, costume and prop designs often displaying improbable combinations of iconography. The Scorpion King name itself belonged to a real pre-dynastic Egyptian ruler whose deeds (according to the scant archeological record), bore no resemblance to those in the film.

The plot, loaded with clichés, thanks to experienced genre director Chuck Russell's astute decisions transcends them through the spoofing effect of the humor that comes from the dialog, the clever staging of the action and the excellent cast, who all radiate the playful earnestness of participants in a grand game of dress-up and make-believe which describes the situation exactly.

The totally ahistorical story gets set in motion by an ambitious, aggressive warlord named Memnon (Steven Brand) who seeks to rule the known world from his palace in the city of Gomorrah (yes, THAT Gomorrah), wiping out any and all tribes that stand in his way. The few brave leaders of the resistance summon to their aid Mathayus (The Rock), head of a small but fierce band of desert warriors known as the Akkadians. Mathayus's main allies against Memnon include: the imposing Nubian ruler Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan of The Third Mile); Balthazar's right hand lady Queen Isis (the stunning Sherri Howard, an Olympic champion runner turned thespian who was woefully under-used and deserving of a much larger role) an endearingly goofy horse-thief Arpid (Grant Heslov), a comic-relief character par excellence; Philos (Bernard Hill), an eccentric da Vinci-like inventor who defects from his hated master Memnon and who perfects the use of gunpowder he acquired from "his colleagues in China (!);" and a gamin-like street urchin who manages not to be obnoxious. Let's not forget the obligatory ornery animal, Mathayus's mount---an albino camel with a remarkably vivid personality.

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