The Scorpion King Movies (2002-18)
Dirs. Chuck Russell / Russell Mulcahy / Roel Reiné / Mike Elliott / Don Michael Paul
01. The Scorpion King (2002): The Rock's first real acting job is a prequel story to his piss-poor cameo in The Mummy Returns (2001).
The role of Mathayus is perfect for him, playing to his strengths and his abilities. He gets to do most of what he did in the WWE: throw people about, look manly, charm an audience with ease, and deliver the trademark raised eyebrow that makes him look simultaneously smug and endearing.
Kelly Hu saves the costume department some cash by being half-naked most of the time.
The irritating comic relief sidekick role, played by Grant Heslov, isn't as bad as it could've been, but the character can be easily ignored the majority of the time. Ultimately, it's a good 'bad' movie.
02. The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008) is a straight to video follow-up that's actually set before the first film. That means it's a prequel to a spin-off of a sequel of a remake. But that's as interesting as it gets. The script is awful.
It delves into the back-story of Mathayus, creating some dramatic irony by having the youth (Michael Copon) trained in swordplay in order to service a man he hates, the King of Akkad. The villainous King has no need for a sorcerer this time because he's a magic-user himself.
Simon Quarterman is the only person that manages to keep his dignity intact for most of the running time; he plays his role like a young, cheapo comedy version of Richard Harris.
Randy Couture, probably hoping to advance the ranks of stardom in the same way that Rock did, isn't believable in any scene other than brawling. Rise of a Warrior is a straight-up bad movie.
03. The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012) is a sequel to the first film, meaning you don't need to have seen SK 2 prior to watching. Lacking that particular prerequisite is the best thing about it. It picks up the story some years after the first film's end.
A bearded Victor Webster takes over the role of Mathayus, who's once again a mercenary selling his sword to the highest bidder. He gets paired with a warrior named Olaf (Bostin Christopher).
The camera-work is shoddy; the editing is bad; the continuity department must've been on vacation; and Billy Zane is useless. If you were to remove the words 'Scorpion' and 'King' and the Kelly Hu flashback it would have very little left to connect it to the previous films. Despite that, I may be the only person in the western world that thought it was okay. It had a few likeable characters, unintentional humour, and was a shit-ton better than Rise of a Warrior.
04. The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (2015). Victor Webster stays on as Mathayus. He manages to channel a little of the eye-brow attitude that The Rock warmed the first film with, and he's charming. His companion this time is a female who loves/hates him, leading to some bickering married-couple humour that's predicable but occasionally chucklesome.
The goal seems to have been to merge Indy Jones with Pirates of the Caribbean, most likely at the insistence of its producers, and there's a lot more comedy than before.
Somehow the gung-ho adventuring stays on track most of the way, even surviving the addition of a nutty Leonardo da Vinci-esque character played by Barry Bostwick.
It goes full Jones during the finale, peaking the bullshit meter beyond recovery and making me wince, but at least it doesn't have Harrison Ford. Speaking of who is and isn't in it, Lou Ferrigno looms large on the cover art, but his onscreen time is only slightly more than a cameo.
SK4 pushed the comedic aspects of the character far enough, I feel. In contrast, 05. The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018) does the opposite and instead puts more emphasis on drama, with a recast Mathayus (Zach McGowan) embodying a more gritty edge than we'd seen before. It's a departure from what I was expecting, but McGowan suits that kind of role; I don't think he'd be as convincing if he was required to play it more light-hearted.
His questing companion is a warrior woman named Tala (Pearl Thusi), whose strength of character makes her very much his equal. In fact, Thusi was so good that she could front her own spin-off with ease. For the most part, the script respects her independence.
The story has an ambitious Nubian named Nebserek (Peter Mensah), who's conquering all of Egypt with the aid of a cursed sword that was forged by the god Anubis many years before. As bad luck would have it, Nebserek also happens to have a grudge against Mathayas. [1]
In order to end the tyrant's advance, Mathayas and Tala quest for the titular Book of Souls, which is said to hold the names of all who are slain with the cursed blade.
The more serious tone serves the story well. There's a semi-comical character in the latter half, but he's also semi-tragic, so it kind of balances out, and it's all arguably beneficial in the end.
[1] The very same Anubis that Mathayas made a pact with in The Mummy Returns, but that hasn't happened yet in the SK timeline, because they're all prequels to TMR.
