5,000年前の古代エシプト。ゴモラの都は戦乱に明け暮れ無秩序状態に陥っていた。時の支配者メムノンは邪悪なパワーを駆使して他民族のせん滅を図る。そんなメムノンの傍若無人な振る舞いに敢然と立ちはだかる一人の勇敢な戦士、その名は“スコーピオン・キング”マサイアス。勇気と知恵を振り絞り悪の権化メムノンに闘いを挑むマサイアスだったが、彼の前には裏切り者の出現や巨大殺人軍隊アリの群れといった難関が次々と襲い掛かるのだった。
製作費: $60,000,000 (90億円)
興行収入: $165,333,180 (248億円)
推定収支: $105,333,180 (158億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
FindKeyのエディトリアルチームがこの作品の深層や歴史を解説しています。
監督: チャック・ラッセル
脚本: David Hayter / Stephen Sommers / William Osborne
音楽: ジョン・デブニー
制作: Sean Daniel / James Jacks / Stephen Sommers
撮影監督: John R. Leonetti
制作会社: Universal Pictures / Alphaville Films / Kalima Productions / WWE Studios / Alliance Films
When _The Scorpion King_ first came out in '02, it would be hard to imagine that between this franchise and its forebears (_The Mummy_ & _The Mummy Returns_), that it would be _The Scorpion King_ who would continue to live on in the following decade. Though that's maybe less shocking knowing that _Tomb of the Dragon Emperor_ happened. _Scorpion King_ delivers on a small amount of the hammy fun it could have been, though I can't help but wonder just how amazing it would be if we had gotten a _Fast & Furious_ level Rock portraying Mathayas. _Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._
Spawned from the "Mummy Returns" this rather stolid and lurching drama tells the tale of “Mathayus” (Dwayne Johnson) an “Akkadian” - an ancient sort of Mesopotamian - who tries to overthrow the tyrant king “Memnon” (Steven Brand) who reigns with the aid of sorceress who can predict the future (Kelly Hu doing her best Jane Seymour impression). This is as formulaic as I've seen in this genre and leaves little for the imagination. It has humour, on occasion, but is anything but subtle. It's all just an action vehicle for the star that does look good but has little else to recommend it to anyone.
<em>'The Scorpion King'</em> isn't one to take seriously, but based on sheer entertainment factor I did suitably enjoy this. It was, at least for yours truly, a fairly breezy 90 minutes, they did a solid job at keeping the action paced well across that run time. The casting is good too. Dwayne Johnson isn't the best actor here in terms of how he says his lines and all that (his acting has improved since), but I'd say he makes up for that by fulfilling the physicality requirements. Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov and Bernard Hill are ones I liked seeing too. Steven Brand is the only actor that I wasn't sold on whilst watching. I do think his Memnon character is just about passable, but at the same time I'd consider him as the weakest link. Elsewhere, the special effects seemed minimally used (at least compared to the originals) - that's a plus. It always fascinates me when I find out about these sorta franchises, simply because it is somewhat difficult to believe that they could produce five releases and have none of them enter my knowledge - until now, of course. I am interested in checking them out though, no question.
