One of those summer movies that leaves you stupider than when you went in, The Scorpion King is meant first and foremost as a spinoff franchise of The Mummy, and secondarily as a star vehicle for WWE headliner "The Rock" (Dwayne Johnson). The idea of "entertainment" is somewhat further down the list, and that it appears at all is probably cause for rejoicing.

Morphing the fictitious character of The Mummy Returns from a villain into a hero, ;the story traces the rise of Mathayus (Johnson), an assassin-for-hire who is sent to kill the power behind the powerful Memnon (Steven Brand) -- a sorceress named Cassandra (Kelly Hu, in a role which evidently confuses Greek and Egyptian mythology). Of course, Mathayus falls in love with Cassandra; and with his comic sidekick Arpid (an excellent Grant Heslov, who may well be typecast in this role) and co-conspirator Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan, with laughable scars seemingly applied with a glue stick), Mathayus continues his quest to kill Memnon in order to free Cassandra from his clutches.

It seems unfair to point out logical and dramatic inconsistencies in this sort of movie (such as why so many characters fall into 20th-century colloquiallisms, how an arrow to the thigh can send Mathayus to death's door but one to the back aimed at his heart is merely an annoyance, or why a sorceress who can predict the future cannot figure a way to leave the palace herself). What is truly surprising, though, is the quality of the acting (particularly in contrast to the quality of scriptwriting). The Rock holds his own in what is essentially a Conan The Barbarian role, and seems a natural to replace the aging Schwarzenegger as the new action-movie king.

The Scorpion King is loud, violent (in a bloodless PG-13 way), brainless, and -- oddly enough -- entertaining.

Film Synopsis:

When the ruthless warlord Memnon threatens to annihilate the desert tribes of fabled Gomorrah, only one man has the strength, cunning and reckless daring to stand against him. That man is Mathayus ("The Rock"). Schooled in the deadly arts of the Akkadian assassins, he is the most feared warrior of the ancient world and the last hope of the desperate tribes facing Memnon's murderous wrath. Now, battling overwhelming odds and supernatural forces beyond the imagination of mere mortals, Mathayus will wage a spectacular, apocalyptic fight for freedom that will transform him from assassin to legend to...the Scorpion King!

Technical

Video:	Widescreen 2.35:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio:	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC] FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:	Spanish
Chapters:	20

The film is presented in a wide 2.35:1 anamorphic presentation with widescreen enhancement, and is one of Universal's better efforts. The video is surprisingly detailed, with very little in the way of compression artifacts or video noise. Colors are stable throughout, and there is minimal haloing in high-contrast areas. The image remained rock-steady (no pun intended, we swear), even on a 64-inch screen.

Audio is of summer-blockbuster quality, clean and detailed, with hyperactive surround and subwoofer channels; the result is a dynamic soundstage that takes over the listening area, and in a properly-tuned listening environment it is likely that the film will sound better at home than it did in the theaters.

Supplements

• Alternate Version in Enhanced Viewing Mode
• Feature Commentaries:
• Enhanced Feature Commentary (with The Rock)
• Feature Commentary with director Chuck Russell
• Outtakes (9 scenes, 3:16)
• Alternate Versions of Key Scenes (9 scenes)
• Spotlight On Location: The Making Of The Scorpion King (14:25)
• Ancient World Production Design (3:25)
• Preparing the Fight (5:56)
• The Rock and Michael Clarke Duncan (3:58)
• Working With Animals (2:54)
• The Special Effects:
• The Cobras (1:44)
• The Fire Ants (2:27)
• Godsmack I Stand Alone Music Video (5:27)
• Man or Myth: The Historic King Scorpion (9 frames)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:43)
• Production Notes (11 frames)
• Cast and Filmmakers:
• The Rock as Mathayus (4 frames)
• Kelly Hu as Cassandra (3 frames)
• Steven Brand as Memnon (1 frame)
• Michael Clarke Duncan as Balthazar (2 frames)
• Bernard Hill as Philos (2 frames)
• Grant Heslov as Arpis (1 frame)
• Peter Facinelli as Prince Takmet (1 frame)
• Ralf Moeller as Thorak (1 frame)
• Chuck Russell (Director) (3 frames)
• Stephen Sommers (Screenwriter, Producer) (2 frames)
• Universal Showcase:
• The Hulk (1:03)
• Taken (0:32)
• The Scorpion King Movie Club Ultimate Collectors (149 names)
• The Scorpion King Offers:
• Universal Studios Theme Park (0:58)
• The Scorpion King Playstation 2 Game Trailer (0:35)
• WWE Legends (0:55)

The single-disc Scorpion King Collector's Edition has more extras than in many two-disc sets.

Director Chuck Russell's enthusiastic feature-length audio commentary is one of the better of the genre, going beyond the typical describing-what-we're-seeing to describe behind-the-scenes secrets and technical details of the production

The "Enhanced" commentary by The Rock is somewhat troublesome, and after the novelty of seeing video of The Rock watching the movie, may be ignored. The idea behind this feature is that one listens to The Rock on what is on the surface simply another audio commentary; when a red scorpion icon appears on the screen, the viewer may press "Enter" on the remote control -- which displays video of The Rock as he watches the film and comments on the action. Several serious technical glitches prevent this from being enjoyable, however, and as The Rock's commentary is largely descriptive of the action on screen, it is best left unviewed.

The Making Of The Scorpion King is a typical "Spotlight On Location" promotional production, typically about the quality of an "Entertainment Tonight" piece.

There is also a collection of outtakes, strung together and not separately accessible, which is more enjoyable than one might expect, as well as alternate versions of nine of the film's key scenes.

Another twenty minutes or so is split among separate pieces which examine the CGI effects, preparations for one of the fight scenes, and so on.

Also included on the disc is the theatrical trailer (as well as the trailers for the upcoming DVD releases of E.T. The Extraterrestrial and the Back To The Future Trilogy), another trailer for the Playstation 2 game, a music video, several still-frame archives, and a DVD-ROM link to the Scorpion King site at http://totalaxess.universalhomevideo.com/sk/index.html