Le Roi Scorpion : La Quête du pouvoir

'The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power', quite literally, continues the downward spiral of this spin-off series. This one does one or two things to a mildly OK level, though all in all it is a slog to sit through. The previous one at least had a small spark to it, this is just boring.

This fourth entry does at least have the same lead as its predecessor, which is a first for these movies. It is sod's law that they actually do so when I wasn't too keen on the actor, in this case Victor Webster. He is, admittedly, the best part of this 2015 flick, not that that is saying much.

Ellen Hollman is alright beside Webster, they have some onscreen chemistry to be fair. Barry Bostwick and Rutger Hauer make for known faces that appear, whilst I also noticed Leigh Gill (aka Gary Puddles) and Esmé Bianco (aka Ros). I do like how random these cast lists get.

A bit more of an entertainment factor, albeit rather unsuccessful à la the previous few installments, then this wouldn't be far adrift of the Ron Perlman and Billy Zane entry. As it is, though, it's far too dull.

"The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power" is the fourth of five instalments in the series, now direct to DVD, that was spun off from The Rock's cameo in "The Mummy Returns".

Victor Webster, most well-known for his appearances in a handful of Hallmark movies, is the only holdover from the last movie, returning as Mathayus. Ron Pearlman and Billy Zane are nowhere to be seen, which is a good thing, because the third one was not good.

The Scorpion King is betrayed by someone he thought was a friend and following that must team up with a beautiful woman (who, of course, has her own secrets) to stop the bad guy from gaining the ability to unlock a powerful ancient power that could see him rule the world.

Not the most original plot line, I know, but it does the trick in this instance. A lot of fighting, not much blood. Some differing acting: some okay, some horrible.

You get what you expect, more or less.

Passably entertaining.

I couldn't help it, even though I knew what I was getting myself into. Being a teenager in the early 80's, I grew up with the low budget sword and sorcery flicks. Deathstalker, Ator, Barbarian Queen, Amazons and several others. I've always enjoyed those "films", no matter how bad. After watching this one, all of those titles flashed into my head. I would compare this one to those. Just a little more modern day cheese.

Is it a good movie, no. If you like those bad 80's titles, you may be able to make it through this one. If your taste is not those type of movies, don't watch it. It's always good to see name actors in these type of movies. Go through the motions and cash the check. Easy money.

... the actors are having fun and you could also have some. Kind of of course. I mean you can only shake your head at the "Dragon" of the movie. It's ridiculous beyond any words I could muster to write here. Yes it is low budget (though still under the Universal banner!?), but even Harryhausen made more believable "monsters".

Anyway back to the actors, the female lead known for her role in Spartacus (at least to me) is obviously playing it for laughs and has some funny lines to say. The action sequences are not really good, but I've seen worse. Actually there is a decent stunt scene thrown into the mix here and there. If you are in the right frame of mind (and maybe like the people involved), there is fun you can have

Some of the Scorpion King movies try to be... sort of serious. And some try to be... sort of funny. This fourth movie combines Monty Python style British humor, with lots of pratfalls. The movie-maker tried for sexy, and didn't utterly fail. Seen on Tubi, the free streaming site; which has many low budget films, indie films, foreigns, and now, live TV.