Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I admit that I don't hate this as much as most people, but I still think this movie is bad. The main fault is how utterly clichéd it is. It features a guy who goes on an epic quest to kill the king to avenge his father. Wow, never heard of a guy killing someone to avenge his father before. The special effects are really bad. In the latter part of the movie, we even get a giant scorpion that's horribly rendered that's mostly invisible or in the shadows all the time. I couldn't help but think that this was to hide how awful the effects are. Most of this movie is predictable.I can't remember anyone's name because it was so clichéd. As someone who personally thought "The Mummy" to just be okay and "The Scorpion King" to be mediocre at best, I didn't have high expectations for this. This was apparently the first prequel to a prequel that was also a spin off that was also a prequel. Um, I guess it has some importance that way. TSK at least had a charismatic actor like The Rock starring and this practically has nothing to do with that or any of the mummy movies. You could just make it about any other character and no one would notice the difference. *1/2

I was thirty minutes into this before I realized that, based the reviews, this is supposed to be a horrible, awful and not very good movie (but mostly horrible).It was none of that. It's what you'd expect from a low budget, straight to disc action film. Maybe my enjoyment level was increased by my low expectations. Or maybe it was the well choreographed fight scenes (there are plenty). Maybe it was the reasonably believable plot.Maybe all of the above?I liked it, but then I watched it late in the evening and was hungry for an OK and entertaining flick for dessert. I didn't expect too much, but I was still entertained and satisfied, even surprised.

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.

The Scorpion King is hands down one of the worst movies on earth. The acting is HORRIBLE; terrible, confusing plot; TERRIBLE special effects; annoying; a rotten film film score, I could keep going on! This is just a BAD movie in EVERY sense! NOT RECOMMENDED!!!! I liked the first Scorpion King OK, and I wasn't expecting much from this, but it was worse than I could possibly imagine! Throughout the movie, I keep thinking, "was the budget for this 5$ ?" There's one part where there fighting a minotaur, and the minotaur looks like its made out of black duct tape and melted tootsie rolls! Like I said, the special effects are truly laughable, just like every think else, in the scorpion king 2. If I could I would give this movie zero stars, as it does not even deserve one!