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

User Rating:

3.8/10   

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writers:

Randall McCormick (screenplay)
Stephen Sommers (character)

Release Date:

19 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

See how the legend of The Scorpion King began!

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Scream | Open Market | Spear | Magic Sword | Prison

Cast

Michael Copon	...	Mathayus
Karen Shenaz David	...	Layla (as Karen David)
Simon Quarterman	...	Ari
Tom Wu	...	Fong
Andreas Wisniewski	...	Pollux
Randy Couture	...	Sargon
Natalie Becker	...	Astarte
Jeremy Crutchley	...	Baldo
Shane Manie	...	Jesup
Peter Butler	...	Ashur
Chase Agulhas	...	Young Noah
Pierre Marais	...	Young Mathayus
Warrick Grier	...	General Abalgamash
Az Abrahams	...	King Hammurabi
Vaneshran Arumugam	...	Gudean Emissary

Also Known As:

Scorpion King - Aufstieg eines Kriegers (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, and sexual content including references.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | South Africa | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Atlantis, Western Cape, South Africa

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Dwayne Johnson turned down the chance to reprise his role.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: During the end credits, the cast is listed in order of character importance despite being labeled "in order of appearance".

Quotes:

Astarte: Scratch any hero, Mathayus, and you will find a monster lurking inside.

Movie Connections:

Follows The Scorpion King (2002)

Dumb dee dumb dumb

Even if you thought "Beastmaster" was great drama, you'll STILL think Scorpion King 2 is dreadful. The acting is surpassed in dreadfulness only by the dialog, although the muddy, on-the-cheap special effects also cannot be excluded from the race for the bottom.

We expect a sequel to be worse than the original film, and SK2 does nothing to dash our expectations -- even if it's a prequel. One finds it hard to imagine how the immensely boring and slightly soft hero played by Michael Copan ever could grow up to become "The Rock," whose Brooklynesque charm made the original "Scorpion King" worth watching.

Everything, yes, absolutely EVERYTHING in SK2 is derivative -- and NOTHING is done nearly as well as it's been done in previous sword and sorcery epics. In brief, skip it -- even if the only other choice at 3 A.M. is an infomercial for ceramic steak knives. SK2 is as bad as they come.