Scorpion King - Aufstieg eines Kriegers

This movie is very bland, action sequences are mediocre at best and the attempts at humor throughout the film usually failed to make me even think about laughing. The storyline is a major problem with it as it brings no excitement to the movie at all and really the plot is pretty stupid. I was unable to watch this movie the whole way through the first time since it was just too boring to continue, but I did finish it during my third viewing of the film. Bad acting, Bad CGI, Badstoryline and really just not a good movie. If you must see this rent it, but the storyline has nothing to do with the first one so really nobody should even be watching this movie. Overall, not the worst movie i've ever watched, but definitely near the bottom 4/10

The Scorpion King 2 - Rise of a Warrior

I honestly think, that the current rating of 3.8 is not doing this movie justice, and I will try to find words why I think so. The action (which I would say is most important here) was actually pretty well done (at least as far as a PG-13-movie can do it), that is the fights were well choreographed and slow-motion was used quite effectively. I would exclude the scenes of Randy Couture wrestling down his opponents, because I wasn't aware that the Egyptians invented the WWF as well. As for the characters, they were likable although cliché (then again, so were the characters in the first movie). At least they were not the type of unlikeable idiots, one has to deal with in many horror-movies or comedies. They were all well cast, with the exception of our hero's mother, who looked totally out of place for the setting. Also I have to say, I never quite felt the charm that some reviewers attest Dwayne Johnson in the first part. I thought he did not do well as a main character, at least in this kind of movie. I would even go as far as saying that Michael Copon looks the part better than The Rock does. The set design and costume design were good. The weapons and armor looked real enough to appear to be more than toys, real enough to suspend one's disbelieve. As for the setting, I'd say, you can't go wrong with desert-and-Egyptian-style-temples.

On the other hand, the story was predictable and there were some plot holes, but overall it could have been worse (especially towards the ending I was even quite surprised). And it has been done worse in countless other movies of this kind. It's just an average young-boy-rises-to-hero-story and for 90 minutes of entertaining what can be wrong with that? Unfortunately, and that is a big let-down, to call the special effects average would be already exaggerating. They are only slightly above Playstation-1-Level, especially in some crucial scenes. But also here you will find worse.

So all in all I rate this movie 6 out of 10. It's not as good as the first part, but if you liked the Mummy-movies, if you liked the first Scorpion King-film and/or if you simply like sword-and-sorcerer-flicks (and I do), give it a watch.

I will be honest I enjoyed like 10 min of this movie only because if you change the main characters name to Hercules, well then its exactly that. And its a horrible version. If you are any type of buff who enjoys Movies that are from way back when then you will hate this because the lingo used is from 2008 - all speech is written as though this whole story took place now. Not hundreds of years ago. "Not my cup of tea" - is one line used that was absolutely ridiculous. All the swearing is - as*hole - jerk - jack a*s honestly who writes these things ?? Don't waste your money on this movie at all

Ya

Every single criticism of this movie is pretty much correct. But I still had fun.

I hate defending a movie because you have to accept it "for what it is," but I'll make an exception for this fine and dandy B-movie, because you really do have to accept it for what it is. There's no possible way to enjoy it if you take it seriously... but there's also no reason to take it seriously! But has there ever really been a "good" serious film in this genre? Precious few, maybe none.

Somewhere early on I got the idea that the movie felt pretty much exactly like playing a D&D module, and that mental picture actually really worked for me -- it felt nostalgic. Once I had that in my head, it was easy to favorably compare the film to many other films that have tried the same thing and failed much (much) more horribly. I have turned off many other contenders. Notice I'm still not saying that this film was "good" -- just much less bad than a lot of films of the same general type. I'm saying it was good for a B movie.

It was good for a B movie especially because the acting and script were not gratingly horrible. (Okay, the wrestler-dude king was as stiff as a board, I can't deny that.) But the young fella and whatshercuteface were actually pretty good, and the scribe guy wasn't so horrible either. They seemed to be comfortable and having fun in their silly little roles, and they were actually responding to each other, not just reading the lines. That's way, way more than you can expect from most B movies.

So, seriously, don't take this film seriously. Of course it's not "good". If you want to watch this sort of thing, cut it some slack and have a good time. You could definitely do worse!

Don't take this film too seriously - the filmmakers obviously didn't. Although it's set in a period "long, long ago", most of the characters look, talk and act VERY contemporary. Equally contemporary is the use of "bullet time" in some of the fight scenes! I wouldn't count on it for a lesson in mythology, either (hmmm, and I thought the Minotaur was killed by Theseus!). And there are a few too many scenes where the characters are simply walking around, while we're waiting for something to happen. On the bright side, Russell Mulcahy is an experienced B-movie director, and the film delivers enough spectacle, with clear cinematography and some imaginative special effects (the best being the transportation from the labyrinth to Hades). The script is basically yet another "quest for vengeance" story, but it does have a nice double-twist at the end. Oh, and I hope we'll get to see more of the breathtakingly beautiful and exotic Karen David in the years to come. Wow, what a woman. Smart move to put her, and the also beautiful and exotic Natalie Becker, on the DVD cover - without those two, I would never have rented this film. (**1/2)