Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 1 hr 32 mins – 2002 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 Audio

Riding on the success of the The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, Universal gave the go ahead to expand on the franchise with a spin-off movie based around The Scorpion King, a character introduced in The Mummy’s sequel. Stephen Sommers, who directed the Mummy films passed the torch to Chuck Russell, hoping to keep the world he introduced fresh, and while The Scorpion King is not a classic, it is a fun film that keeps in pace with the Brendan Fraser flicks. The Scorpion King is finally available as on Blu-ray hi-definition from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and just as long as you don’t take it seriously at all, you’ll have a good time with it.

THE MOVIE

The Scorpion King stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in his first starring role, hoping to be the big man on screen now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has put down his sword to conquer California politics instead. The Scorpion King’s storyline takes place many centuries before the Mummy, when steel was the only weapon of choice. The Rock plays an Arkkadian assassin named Mathayus who is sent on a mission to kill a sorceress named Cassandra (played by the very hot Kelly Hu), who is the personal foreseer to King Memnon (Stephen Brand), the man responsible for the death of Mathayus’ brother. Seeking revenge, Mathayus kidnaps Cassandra instead of killing her, knowing that King Memnon will come looking for her. With the help of various characters, including his rival Bathazar (Michael Clarke Duncan), Mathayus sets a plan of action to eliminate King Memnon’s reign and save his own people from peril.

Like the Mummy films, The Scorpion King’s storyline is simple, focusing on action and comedy, staying away from the hardcore violence of Conan the Barbarian. It’s actually like watching a big budget episode of Xena: The Warrior Princess, where everything is all in fun and escapism. The reason why the film works is because of The Rock; he’s got great screen presence that he learned from the WWF, so he knows how to work the crowd. Whenever there’s a scene that does not involve him, you really don’t care. You’re just waiting for him to say some smart-ass line and beat the hell out of somebody. The Rock knows that he’s not doing Shakespeare, so he’s having fun with the role. Whereas Brendan Fraser was desperately attempting to be as cool as Indiana Jones, The Rock knows his limits and never goes beyond what his fans expect him to do.

Director Chuck Russell, who’s biggest film prior was Jim Carrey’s The Mask does all he can to make the film entertaining, but at the same time he never takes any risks, constantly copying action scenes from ever other movie from Indiana Jones to obviously Conan the Barbarian. He never pushes the PG-13 to the limit because this film was designed to be a summer blockbuster that you can bring the kids to. If the tone of the film was darker it would have added something to the mix, but again this movie was meant to follow in the footsteps of the Mummy movies, and there’s nothing risky about them neither.

Overall, if you enjoyed the Mummy movies, you’ll feel the same about The Scorpion King because it’s cut from the same cloth. You’ll never be bored because there’s plenty of action, and no one ever makes any speeches or attempts to teach any lessons. Sure this film is silly, but look at the title, what else would you expect? For those of you looking for a decent popcorn film on a rainy weekend, or are big fans of The Rock, then this Blu-ray is the one for you.

VIDEO

This movie looks fantastic in hi-definition with its 1080p resolution and 2.35:1 aspect ratio, The Scorpion King is absolute show off material. Being that there are so many bright scenes in the desert and the night scenes are lit to give everything a glowing illumination, you can see every detail perfectly. This film is barely six years old but it looks as if it were made only a few months ago, offering a crystal clear image that will sell HDTV’s. The sharp image allows you to see a lot of the film’s visual flaws, such as The Rock’s hairpiece that looks like it’s glued on his head, and the fire ants effects that wouldn’t even have been acceptable in a videogame. There are some moments that have grain and instances of soft fuzziness, but overall this is a Blu-ray winner.

AUDIO

With its DTS HD 5.1 surround audio mix, the sound compliments the video quality, and is a must for home theater sound enthusiast. From the clanging swords, the marching ants, and the desert storm, the sound will keep you immersed as it blasts your speakers on all sides. Dialogue sounds crisps, but The Scorpion King is not a thespian ensemble to learn new monologues, you’re watching this movie to see and hear things move fast and furiously, and on that end it totally delivers. Again, this flick is another winner for Blu-ray.

EXTRAS

Here is where things get weird; because when The Scorpion King was previously released on HD-DVD it included a whole batch of extras to match what was in the special edition DVD. But for some reason most of this stuff has been omitted from the Blu-ray or condensed into the U-Control feature. What happened? Will the Blu-ray generation never be able to see the Godsmack video “I Stand Alone” from The Scorpion King that was on the DVD?

The audio commentary from director Chuck Russell managed to survive the move from HD-DVD to Blu-ray, but he sort of sounds like he’s phoning it in. There are a couple of interesting spots, but it’s hard to listen to the whole thing without fast forwarding.

Universal has brought the U-Control feature that originated on HD-DVD to Blu-ray, allowing an icon to sit on the lower right side of your screen, and when activated you can open up a Picture-in-Picture box to see behind the scenes clips and interviews as the movie plays. Most of the stuff in the PIP is material from the DVD extras that has been squeezed together, but there are still a lot of good things missing. It’s good that U-Control is now offered for Blu-ray, but there’s no excuse for making it the only source of extras for this movie.

BOTTOM LINE

The Scorpion King is entertaining as long as you don’t take it too seriously and the Blu-ray’s image and sound quality are worth the price alone. Including all of the extras from the previous HD-DVD and DVD would have been the icing on the cake, but overall this Blu-ray is a keeper. The Rock may never be on the level as the former big muscle man of the silver screen, Schwarzenegger, but he is likeable and can carry a movie with the right material. If you’ve already picked up the Blu-ray’s for The Mummy and The Mummy Returns on Blu-ray, it’s a no-brainer that you need to grab this one was well.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 3.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 3.0