Scorpion King - Aufstieg eines Kriegers

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.

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)

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.

If I could give this movie zero out of ten, I would! It TOTALLY SUX!!! Badly written, badly acted, badly directed/produced, bad music, crappy story line...I could go on and on.. I can't believe they actually put this movie out on DVD. I want my $5.00 back. What a waste. Everyone in this movie speaks modern English...All of the accents are completely different(not because they're supposed to be either)...the worst one of all being the people who don't even TRY, and talk like they're walking around the mall instead of taking their roles seriously. no wonder The Rock wouldn't do this movie. After the first three minutes I wanted to bash my own head into a brick wall!! THIS IS THE FIRST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY HORRIBLE I HAD TO COMMENT ABOUT IT ON THIS OR ANY OTHER SITE. For the love of God, don't watch this movie...it'll make you wish you had lost all of your senses the second you pushed play.

P.S. The writers/directors/producers/casting agents/actors in/of this movie should be locked in a brick room and be forced to watch this movie nonstop while the rest of us take bets on how long it takes for one of them to bash their way through the wall with their head... THAT very well could be the only method that lot has of effectively entertaining anyone with this movie.

I remember seeing the first Scorpion King in the theater and I LOVED it. It had pretty much everything I could expect in a spin-off from The Mummy- Great action, lots of witty humor and very beautiful Egyptian location, and THE ROCK! What a fantastic and underrated . Now I saw the trailer for this one and thought "Another one?". Sadly, it looks like I was right. *Another* one. A movie I could laugh, cry, and gawk at how bad it is. So I decided to rent it anyways, because, well, hey, it's a Scorpion King movie. And oh, I couldn't even make it all the way through. It's that bad... well, actually it's WORSE!!!!! The location is AWFUL and nothing like the other movie which had BEAUTIFUL scenery in Egypt, the actors seem to have gotten their acting talents from 4 year olds, the battle scenes are awful too- shaky camera, constant jump edits, it's like you're having a seizure the whole time. Oh and the dialog is mind-numbingly awful too. Overall, if you like mindless idiocy that's so-called "Cinema", be sure not to miss this stinker.