The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008)

Directed by: Russell Mulcahy | 92 minutes of action | Actors: Michael Copon, Randy Couture, Karen Shenaz David, Simon Quarterman, Andreas Wisniewski, Jeremy Crutchley, Shane Manie, Pierre Marais, Warrick Grier, Az Abrahams, Vaneshran Arumugam, Wayne Shields, Robin Smith, Diane Wilson, Sean Higgs, Chase Agulhas , Natalie Becker, Amira Quinlan, Clodagh Quinlan, Tom Wu

Have you ever heard of a prequel prequel? Well this is one. ‘The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior’ harks back to the origins of Mathayus, the ‘Scorpion King’, who was played in 2002 by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. And that film again described the events leading up to ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001). So the history of the history so to speak. 2008 also saw the release of ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, which is chronologically the last story in the series. Now ‘The Scorpion King’ (2002) was not a resounding success and because ‘The Scorpion King 2′ came out straight on DVD, you might expect that the film is finished. But that’s great.

Russell Mulcahy, the director of ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ (2007) brings a lot of action and suspense to this part of the ‘Scorpion King’ saga. The fight scenes are very good. Only it seems that the budget for some special effects was exhausted. The appearance of the queen of the underworld, for example, is very well done, just like the floating sword of Damocles. But the Minotaur in Knossos is almost laughable, and villain Sargon’s scorpion form isn’t great either. This also brings us straight to the film’s biggest flaw.

In the previous ‘Scorpion’ there was wrestler ‘The Rock’ who can act well. Here, mixed martial arts fighter Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture gets to play the evil king Sargon. Physically, this Ultimate Fighting Champion is of course fine, but unfortunately acting is not one of his qualities. Little comes of his sentences and through everything there is a flat American accent which is rather strange for an Akkadian king in Egypt. A sidekick role with less dialogue and more combat would have been much better for him.

Fortunately, the rest of the casting is now well done. The half-Filipino Michael Copon is a convincing protagonist and also fun to watch. The actor from ‘Power Rangers Wild Force’ (2002-2003) and ‘One Tree Hill’ (2003) wears an Akkadian suit of armor that leaves the belly exposed for almost the entire film. Furthermore, there is female beauty in the form of Karen David, she plays well the wise and tough Layla. Natalie Becker is also beautiful as the goddess of the underworld. They could have made her a little scarier (also black eyes just like Sargon), because she doesn’t instill much fear in us. Simon Quarterman plays the Greek poet/writer Aristophanes. He is the guide during the quest and often the happy note. The actor who plays Ashur, Mathayus’ father, also deserves a compliment, if only he had a bigger role. Special mention to Fong the Chinese who gets tricked all the time, he may be the funniest of them all!

The bombastic music may be a bit pretentious, but this film is compelling in its own way. It’s a spectacle with lots of fight scenes and action like with the intricate fall in the arena. At the end there is a little bridge to ‘The Scorpion King’ (2002). Furthermore, there is little overlap between the two films. But the tone has been set and Copon can pass for a young Rock. It is not a masterpiece and does not excel in originality. But despite the negatives, ‘The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior’ is still an exciting adventure film. You will be quite entertained for about an hour and a half.