The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a WarriorFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (previously known as The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian) is a direct-to-video prequel to the 2002 film The Scorpion King, which itself was a prequel to The Mummy Returns, which was a sequel to the 1999 remake of The Mummy. Filming for the movie began on October 1, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa. The film had a scheduled release date of August 19, 2008 in the United States, and will be released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The movie has leaked of July 28, 2008, to the internet. When young Mathayus witnesses his father's death at the hands of an evil military commander, his quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world.
Cast:
In August 2007, it was reported that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would not play the lead role, but instead the film would feature Michael Copon (Power Rangers: Time Force) as the young Mathayus. Canadian actress/singer Karen David appears as the lead heroine, Layla. Randy Couture appears in the movie as the main villain, Sargon.
* Michael Copon - Mathayus, the future Scorpion King
* Randy Couture - Sargon of Akkad
* Karen David - Layla, Mathayus' childhood friend and love
* Simon Quarterman - Aristophanes the Greek
* Tom Wu - Fong, a Chinese acrobat
* Natalie Becker - Lady Astarte
* Peter Butler - Ashur of Akkad, Mathayus' father
Plot:
The movie begins with Mathayus' father, Ashur of Akkad, fighting in battle. He tells a young Mathayus not to join the Black Scorpions, the best warriors of the Emperor of Akkad, but Mathayus ignores him and goes to the games used to recruit boys to join the sacred Black Scorpions. During the games Mathayus encounters his childhood friend Layla, who desires to fight in battle like the men. Sargon, commander of the army, overhears their conversation and detains Layla. Mathayus gets detained as well after attacking Sargon. Sargon is about to execute Mathayus when his father rescues him, but he gets attacked by Sargon. The battle ends with Emperor Hammurabi forgiving them, in return for Mathayus joining the Black Scorpions. This leaves Sargon furious. During the night, Ashur is murdered by Sargon's Scorpion Curse. Mathayus joins the Black Scorpions and vows to be the best fighter because he realizes this is the best way to get vengeance.
Years pass and an adult Mathayus is participating in the ceremony to join the Black Scorpions. He has graduated as a master swordsman, the best in his class. During the ceremony they are greeted by the current Emperor, Sargon, who has murdered Hammurabi to seize the throne. During the greeting Sargon recognizes Mathayus and invites him to the palace. That night in the palace, Mathayus declares his loyalty to the Emperor and is rewarded with a night with the emperor's concubines. The next day Mathayus is once again called to the palace, only to find his brother Noa arrested for spreading so-called "false rumors" about the emperor. Mathayus devises a plan to escape. However, during their escape Sargon uses his black magic and releases an "enchanted" arrow, killing Noa.
Mathayus then encounters his friend, Layla. They escape together to Egypt in a boat. During the trip they meet a Greek named Aristophanes(or 'Ari' for short) who becomes their new accomplice. Ari devises a plan to kill the "cursed" Sargon, the only way being to go to the underworld and retrieve a magical sword from a legendary hero. To go to the underworld, they must first kill the Minotaur guarding the portal that leads there.
Mathayus succeeds in killing the fable monster with the help of several prisoners who were mercenaries that owed a debt to his father. Another one of the them, a Chinese acrobat named Fong, becomes their new accomplice. To get the prisoners to join in the journey, Ari promises that the underworld is filled with riches. They enter the portal to the underworld, which is a great puzzle that only Ari could decipher. The answer to the puzzle was Asha's last words to Mathayus "Have faith." As they're walking through the desert of the underworld, it suddenly turns into a swamp, filled with dead corpses, traps, and fully awakened bodies. In the swamp only Fong, Ari, Mathayus, Layla, and one of the prisoners survive. One of the prisoners is captured by a tree and killed offscreen, and another is killed by an undead creature after reaching for gold and jewelry. Once in the palace of Lady Astarte, the goddess of Love and War, they encounter the Lady, who tries to seduce Mathayus. Layla initiates a fight with Astarte, and during this diversion, Ari and Fong acquire the sword, the group escapes. They pass back through the portal before an hour has passed, avoiding a curse that would turn them into stone, except for the mercenary whose stays too long because his greed causes him to try to get a ruby ring.
They go back to Akkad, only to find that Sargon is planning on sacrificing the whole town to Lady Astarte in exchange for the ultimate power, the power of a god. To accomplish this, Sargon imprisons everyone in the town's coliseum and burn them alive. Layla and Fong help by killing the guards and putting out the fire before it reached the townspeople. Mathayus and Ari go to the King's quarters to confront him. Once they encounter him, Mathayus and Sargon fight hand-to-hand, while Ari writes down the details for his epic poem. Mathayus asks for the magical sword but Ari betrays him by throwing the sword to Sargon. Mathayus uses his dagger to break the sword, amazing Sargon. Ari then gives Mathayus the real sword. It was all part of Ari's plan to fool Sargon. Ari then tells Sargon, "Never trust a Greek." Sargon transforms into the monstrous Scorpion King, but after a long battle Mathayus succeeds in killing the monster by impaling him with the sword. Sargon is dead. Astarte confronts Mathayus, and she threatens to kill him, and he tells her he will join her soon enough.
The day after, Hammurabi's son is declared the true emperor. Mathayus finally kisses Layla while recovering from his wounds. Layla admits she no longer wishes to lead the life of a soldier and wants to settle down. The movie ends with Ari's narration of how now Mathayus prefers to live a life of adventure and is traveling in the desert, and one day he will come back and become the Scorpion King. These events lead to the original 2002 film, The Scorpion King.
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (Widescreen)Directed by Russell Mulcahy
Average customer review:
Product Description
See how the legend of The Scorpion King began! When a young Mathayus witnesses his father's death at the hands of the king (UFC Champion Randy Couture) his quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world. From the director of Resident Evil: Extinction and Highlander comes a heroic adventure filled with heart-stopping action and thrilling visual effects!System Requirements:Running Time: 109 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025195017206 Manufacturer No: 63102083
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1095 in DVD
- Brand: SCORPION KING 2: RISE OF A WARRIOR (WS) (DVD
- Released on: 2008-08-19
- Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
- Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
- Dubbed in: French, Spanish
- Number of discs: 1
- Dimensions: .20 pounds
- Running time: 109 minutes
Amazon.com
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior is a dazzling prequel to the 2002 adventure movie The Scorpion King, the latter starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Mathayus, the warrior who takes on an evil army attacking his homeland. The Scorpion King 2 stars Michael Copon as a young Mathayus, who trains to become one of his king's warriors and then declares vengeance on the evil Sargon after the latter kills Mathayus' father. The hero's ascension as a noble fighter coincides with Sargon's usurping of the throne, leading Mathayus to seek a supernatural means to destroy him. His quest leads him to the infamous labyrinth in which the Minotaur feasts on men, and to the underworld itself, a horrifying place in which people become ensnared and die very slowly. Accompanied by a childhood friend-turned-warrior (Karen Shenaz David) and a philosopher-huckster (Simon Quarterman), Mathayus bravely but uncertainly battles through one obstacle after another to complete his journey. Directed by Australian filmmaker Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction), The Scorpion King 2 is a suspenseful and sometimes startling feature, with art direction and special effects that evoke the mysteries of ancient Greece and indeed make the underworld look like a most unearthly and nightmarish place. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Not great, but not too awful
This was definitely not the worst movie of the year, though it certainly hovers near the bottom of the list.
That being said, it was better than Indiana Jones Crystal Skulls, and even better than the most recent installment of Narnia: Prince Caspian. So I can't be too harsh, given it had a fraction of the budget of those other films.
It had some decent special effects (the underworld, the battle scenes), but other effects (the scorpion, the minotaur) were simply awful. And yes, the acting was pretty bad.
Enough said about this movie. If you like B-movies, if you're really into the Scorpion King/Mummy franchise, if you're into cheesy, then you'll like it. If not, it might be best to avoid. (2.5 stars)
Scorpion King: The Beginning!!!
When I heard about a sequel to The Scorpion King, I wanted to see it. I bought this with Prom Night and The Wizard of Gore remake. I thought it was just alright, but something confused the crap out of me! Mathayus's brother died in the first one, but this one takes place before the original, and his brother dies in this one. Unless he had two brothers, that did not make sense. Other than that, the storyline was okay. Mathayus wants to avenge his father's death, so he trains for six years. When he comes back, the man who killed hid dad became king. Later, Mathayus and his girlfriend Layla end up in the Underworld. There are some funny moments, but it's still not as good as the original Scorpion King! I probably wouldn't recommend THE SCORPION KING 2: RISE OF A WARRIOR!!!
Some good....lots of bad
First of all they picked a non-interesting baby face actor to be the
major character...oh my ...The bad guy was ok but sounds like he needs more acting roles by the way he delivered his line... the bad witch or whatever...too cute....
And now for the good stuff....At one point the movie resembled a sword
and sandal quest movies that was popular in the 1960's... the desert
land of the dead scenario was the best. The other surprise was the actor that portrayed the scribe /writer in this movie...Reminded me of a young Roddy McDowall character from Alladin movies to the planet of the apes movies.
So the 2 stars are for the Bad guy, the scribe and the limited budget special effect personel.
Rent it....dont buy it
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (Full Screen)
