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The Scorpion King
Review by Mike Furches (Mike's bio)
Directed by Chuck Russell
Screenplay by David Hayter, Wil Osborne, Stephen Sommers
Story by Jonathan Hales and Stephen Sommers
Cast overview:
Dwayne Johnson .... Mathayus, The Scorpion King
Steven Brand .... Memnon
Kelly Hu .... Cassandra
Michael Clarke Duncan .... Balthazar
Grant Heslov .... Comedic Sidekick
Peter Facinelli .... Takmet
Ralph Moeller
Scott L. Schwartz .... Torturer
Andrei Sterling .... Balthazar's Bandit
Sherri Howard .... Queen Isis
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and some sensuality.
I don't believe there will be any doubt about it, this movie will have reached as high as the #1 spot in America before it is over. If you read my review of The Mummy Returns, you can see that I thought highly of that movie. One of the surprises was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As a matter of fact my comments were, and I quote, "Another newcomer who surprisingly does not get nearly enough screen time in my opinion is Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as the Scorpion King. 'The Rock', a real life professional wrestler is a very pleasant surprise. While professional wrestling is now billed as 'sports entertainment' as opposed to 'real sport', it should be no surprise that 'The Rock' is a talented actor. He did such a good job for the brief time he was on screen in a venue other than wrestling that some will be surprised." While I made those comments at the time, I never knew that a movie was going to be made about this character.
Spiritual attributes were addressed wonderfully in the first two movies and I had hopes they would also be addressed here. From the area of spirituality there are some issues addressed. The concept of sacrifice and love, the willingness to forgive one another and work together, and numerous other areas are addressed and if searched for can be used. The problem I had is that they were not addressed adequately and with the detail that the first two movies did. Between this and other areas this movie was a major disappointment for me.
The Rock and others do an adequate job at portraying their roles with the script that was given but the talent exhibited in The Mummy Returns is as distant from this film as one could imagine. I had to wonder where was the direction in the film and what in the world was going on. It didn't take long in the closing credits to see that this movie was a Vince McMahan production. I soon realized what had happened. Vince McMahan the leader and head of professional wrestling has had his hand in a number of ventures over the years. He has taken a sports entertainment venue, professional wrestling, that was once good family fun and made it into a mockery of sport and a mockery of anything that resembles family values. Those same values exhibited in professional wrestling, complete with the sexual degradation of women to the valuing of rude and inappropriate characters is displayed in this film. For individuals who have read my reviews, you know that I seldom make comments of this nature. I legitimately and truly try to find positive attributes within film and find spiritual issues to discuss. What I found with The Scorpion King has about as much value as a used, chewed up, toothpick. Frankly I was insulted that I was promoted a movie that was supposed to be loosely billed as a prequel to The Mummy Returns and what I received was plate full of mush. All of this said from someone who actually saw some value in numerous movies that I have been blasted for like The Replacements.
This is a movie that I would strongly urge parents to keep their children away from. One of the fallacies of this movie is that while the Scorpion King was a ruthless villain filled with evil and wrong intent in The Mummy Returns, we see that in his origins he was a good character who was basically a paid assassin. This concept is dangerous in that it can cause one to focus on the origins and intent as opposed to the final product. What is really bad here is that the concept of who The Scorpion King is is really not any different than The Mummy Returns. The only difference is that we are now supposed to like him for what he does. While there are movies that have character switches, i.e. Darth Vader in the Star Wars series, the way it is presented here is virtually unbelievable and not acceptable.
The reality of it is, that I love this genre of film. I remember the old Jason and the Argonauts films, the old Hercules movies and other types of films that were done well and caused young boys and girls to dream. I actually like and appreciate fantasy but I found the only positive experience from this movie going venture was the box of popcorn, diet coke and previews I enjoyed before the movie. It's just that I could have received those benefits much cheaper at home. Other than that this movie was the disappointment of the last two years and one of the great disappointments of all time. If wanting to discuss spiritual issues with someone who likes this series, watch the first two movies and go from there. Frankly I expect few fans of the series to like this movie, at least at the theater I was at I couldn't find a single person who thought it was anything other than just okay. For me it wasn't even that.
By far the worst of the series. Because it is the third in the series I'll give it a 3 out of 10.
Copyright 2002, Mike Furches. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
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About Mike Furches: Mike is the senior pastor of United at the Cross Community Church in Wichita, Kansas. The church, located in the inner city of Wichita has a unique ministry to former gang members, drug addicts, prostitutes and others often neglected by the church. Mike also is involved in freelance writing and speaks nationally. Check out his web page for more information: http://www.furches.org/ E-mail Mike |
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