Don't listen to the negative reviews

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a very good movie. It has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. The Scorpion King is better. But still I give this movie 7 out of 10. It is a great fantasy movie. It very scary at times. It is a prequel. Do not know why it got a 3.8. That is just underrating it. It is not a 3.8. It is a great movie. It is one of the best fantasy horror movies from 2008. It is a prequel to The Scorpion King. It is also ha prequel to The Mummy. All The Scorpion king movie are prequels to The Mummy. If you like good horror movies you need to see this movie. I need more line and I am running out of things to say.

I can handle corny, silly and even bad acting if the story is good and the plot makes some sense and the action is plausible. Heck, while I liked most of the mummy movies and even felt the first scorpion king was worth watching...once; this movie was a colossal waist of time.Not often is a movie so bad I felt obligated to warn other's to stay away. The director Russell Mulcahy has done some decent movies in the past; but definitely cheated the people who financed this debacle. It is perhaps the worst job of directing I have sense since.....well ever. It was obvious they were just trying to cash in on the first Scorpion King movie, the director appeared not even to try and ensure a half way decent product; confusing plot line, jumping from one part of the earth to the other in a matter of seconds with no explanation on how they got there, (hours to get into forest, seconds to get out???) implausible fight scenes at the end (both the arena and the scorpion) that were so bad it made me angry I even watched it till the ending. I was like, Really Director...ugh

Matahyus can't seem to cut a break when it comes to straightforward storytelling. Originally being introduced in The Mummy Returns (2001) played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the character would earn himself enough popularity to warrant a spin-off with Johnson reprising the role in The Scorpion King (2002). Although the prequel explaining the origins of the character had a screenplay that wasn't exactly clear and suffered from goofy acting, it was still a competently made film with steady camera-work and entertaining action sequences. With the success of that, came this entry which sounds interesting but doesn't really have much to offer other than the ability to waste time if needed. Unfortunately, there just isn't much substance to this and it's surprising since this film has 17 more minutes than the original. Although labeled with a "2" in its poster art, this sequel is in fact another prequel. Why does Mathayus have to have such a backward story line?In basic plot the title speaks for itself, it explains (if that's what you call it) how Mathayus (Michael Copon) earned his way up in the ranks from childhood to young adult to overthrow and evil king named Sargon (Randy Couture). If that were the case alone it would be somewhat doable but instead the film suffers from misguided direction headed by Russell Mulcahy (The Shadow (1994) & Highlander (1986)). The story starts out with Mathayus as a kid when his father Ashur (Peter Butler) was alive. However that is quickly thrown to the wayside due to Randall McCormick's screenplay, which focuses much longer than needed on Mathayus in his young adult years on a journey for a powerful artifact. A lot of it is a borefest. Much of the journey is just Mathayus and a few followers going from point A to point B running into obstacle after obstacle. These setups quickly lose their appeal after being done time after time after time.The protagonists in their journey are all right in some respects because of their distinguished personalities. Although Michael Copon as Mathayus is perhaps too young looking for the role, he at least has the physique to look like he's on his way and he can passably act for what it's worth. Along side Mathayus is Layla (Karen David), a childhood friend/potential lover. She's fun to watch in her action sequences but her role is not defined clearly enough. Why include a possible love interest when clearly she would not return in Mathayus' future? Then there's Ari (Simon Quarterman), a Greek poet who runs into Layla and Mathayus and persuade them to find the ancient artifact. Don't expect much for special antagonists though. Randy Couture as Sargon could've possibly pulled off being an okay villain if he had more to do than scowl/stand and speak with an enhanced voice-over. It's obvious that Couture is not acting material but he at least could've done something. Sure he flips over some people but that's about it. Next to him is Natalie Becker as a goddess named Astarte. Although she actually does a couple things like battling and explaining how Sargon got his powers, she's not all that interesting to get to know. What was her motivation to even give Sargon her powers?That's the problem; even with all these issues, if the script was at least written so the audience could relate to Mathayus and his father in some fashion and developed them, perhaps the drama between them would've been more understandable. As mentioned before, the action sequences do have a certain amount of energy thrown into them. Like a lot of other ancient movie settings, sword fights and mystical devices are essential at the minimum and that's at least taken care of. It's not anything special or out of the ordinary in performance but it at least tries. The special effects on other hand looked like they were wasted. There was only one setting which actually looked decent and that was when the protagonists headed into the underworld where the dead becomes apart of the habitat. That at least looked real and like actual creativity went into it. However, that doesn't make up for everything else where every creature was either concealed entirely by darkness or up close camera shots so that the whole image could not be seen. Lame.The cinematography handled by Glynn Speeckaert was adequate however. The entire film does not have wide shots of landscape but for the moments that do, it looks believable. If the setting to this movie takes place in ancient times near Egypt, there has to be a couple of desert shots. It's where this whole spin-off franchise started. The music was a shock on the other hand. Composed by Klaus Badelt (best known for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) score), the score was not only forgettable but was also difficult to find physically. The sound is organic but unfortunately lacks any flare the original score by John Debney had with its mix of hard rock and orchestra. It is because of that the music sounds very anonymous with no recognizable signature. Plus since this is a franchise, one would expect some type of main theme by now but nope.It has okay action sequences, distinguishable protagonists, steady camera-work but with only these components that work, it makes this prequel to a prequel spin-off series not all that interesting. Its music is generic, the special effects look last minute, the direction is misguided and its villains are not anything to talk about.

I'm a big fan of the "Mummy" franchise. I'm the guy who actually liked "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" and thought the first "Scorpion King" was a fast, fun film. So when I saw this prequel on Netflix (after seeing the third film in the store the other day), I figured I'd give it a go. I knew the basics- it was directed by Russel Mulcahy (who I quite like as a director, actually), it was direct to video (which is generally not a good thing), and I of course know that it is a "prequel of a prequel/spin-off of a sequel of a remake." Try saying that ten times, fast! I will start off with faint praise- this isn't as bad as it could have been. In fact, it has some moments that I quite liked, to be honest. But like many other sequels/prequels, particularly direct-to-video ones, it fell into one big flaw- it wasn't really needed, and they clearly didn't know what to do with it. As a fan of the first "Scorpion King", it seems obvious that a sequel should bridge the gap between it and "The Mummy Returns", and explain just how Mathayus went from being a championed hero of the people into being a fairly violent villain. This movie does not cover that.This film is a prequel of the first film (itself a prequel), adding an unnecessary and often confusing backstory that more than once causes continuity problems with the rest of the franchise. (A character speaks of seeing the pyramids, whereas the first film took place "before the pyramids", being an example)We start with a young Mathayus, who yearns to train to be a "Black Scorpion", famed warriors. He and his childhood friend Layla sneak into the training session. Layla disguises herself as a boy, as she yearns for adventure that women are often denied, but is soon found out by Sargon (Randy Couture), a ruthless leader who trains the Black Scorpions (I guess, I never really understood who Sargon was meant to be, asides from the villain). A fight breaks out, and young Mathayus helps Layla escape. The king witnesses Mathayus's natural talent as a fighter and demands that Mathayus become a Black Scorpion, despite his father's (a Black Scorpion himself) wishes.Soon after, his father is murdered by Sargon (via some strange magic spell), and Mathayus is sent out for training. Returning several years later (now played by Michael Copon), Mathayus at first serves as a Royal Guard to Sargon (who became king after murdering the past king), but is forced to work against him when Sargon tries to make him kill his own brother.Now, Mathayus, Layla and others who join them must devise a way to beat Sargon and stop his cruel rule over the lands.It's a very basic plot. And I will say, it isn't absolutely abysmal. There are some cool moments, such as a sequence where Mathayus and co. enter the Underworld seeking a sacred sword held by the goddess Astarte, and a scene that references "The Spear of Anubis" (the weapon that would later kill the Scorpion King Mathayus in "The Mummy Returns"), but all in all, it's a very clichéd plot, and the way the movie flows feels like it was written as a TV-pilot. There was more than one moment where I said to myself "Here's where the commercials go."And to be honest, if this WAS a TV-pilot, it would've been a lot better, and would've been more forgivable, as it flows like one. But that fact that it is meant to be an honest-to-god "movie-movie" makes it feel cheap and tacky.The acting is mixed beyond belief. Copon is actually pretty charming and isn't half bad as Mathayus, though he isn't a strong actor by any means. He's like Bruce Campbell in his earlier roles- bad actor, but a lot of charm. Karen David tries way too hard as Layla, the hot-yet-tomboyish female lead, and comes off as more annoying than fierce and fiery. Simon Quarterman as Ari, the Greek comic relief, is actually pretty decent, but the poor writing hurts him. And Randy Couture is just... bad. He doesn't act, he just broods and talks deeply and loudly. He was boring.Mulcahy's direction is OK, given the lower budget, but at times it felt too basic. Like his heart wasn't in it. The action wasn't particularly good. The CGI effects ranged from "acceptable" to "abysmal." It was all low quality in terms of production.But like I said, I've seen far worse direct-to-video films. I'd give this a 4 out of 10. If you liked the rest of the "Mummy" franchise, and can see it for free, give it a watch, but don't expect much of anything.