The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian
Encyclopedia
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (previously known as The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian) is a 2008 direct-to-DVD prequel
to the 2002 film The Scorpion King
, which was a spin-off
to The Mummy Returns
, itself a sequel to the 1999 reimagining
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 was released on Blu-ray Disc
and DVD
.
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.
, instructing the children to do battle, in order to receive the training of a Black Scorpion. The battle ensues and Mathayus' female friend, Layla is found out in the midst by Sargon. Being forbidden to join the games, she is forced away by Sargon, before Mathayus hits him with a staff and gets caught by the guards, trying to escape. His father Ashur protects him and a duel between him and Sargon ensues, in which the Hammurabi states Ashur's son is to be given the training, Sargon's eyes turn black and he states that he will pay.
In the night, a large dark mist travels through the city, before entering the house of Mathayus and a swarm of scorpions rip apart Ashur's flesh and kills him. Mathayus vows to become the best of the Black Scorpion soldiers to get revenge. Years later, when he has completed his training, he learns that Sargon has become the new king of Akkad
. Upon re-uniting with his childhood friend Layla, his mother, and his brother, Noah, who is against the king, Mathayus is tasked by Sargon to kill Noah. Instead he breaks the chain around Noah's neck and tells him to run. He then takes this opportunity to attack his guard and eventually Sargon himself, using one of the guard's spears. When he throws the spear, it stops in mid-air in front of Sargon, before reversing direction toward Mathayus, who narrowly avoids being hit. He and Noah escape through the city on horseback, chased by a magical arrow fired by Sargon.
When Noah is killed by the arrow, Mathayus attempts to board a ship to Egypt, before noticing someone is following him, it turns out to be Layla and as he boards the ship, a Greek known as Ari informs them that the Spear of Osiris is only meant to kill Egyptian creatures, such as scarabs and mummies, and thus would be ineffective against him. (Ironically, it is the weapon that would be used to kill Mathayus himself after he became the Scorpion King in the movie Mummy Returns). Layla tells him that Sargon has been granted dark powers by the gods.
Ari tells them of the Sword of Damocles in the underworld, which can be used to kill him. Once in Egypt, they go to Greece to attempt to enter the palace, in order to get to the labyrinth and into the Underworld
. On the way, they fall into a cell and are surrounded by sacrifices for the Minotaur
. After defeating the Minotaur, he attempts to enlist the aid of a group of mercenaries, who were slaves, and a lost man, named Fung, who was looking to get home to China. Once they enter the Underworld, they siphon through a desert, until a forest surrounds them.
They are approached by the goddess Astarte
, who forces them to beg for their lives. However, Layla and Mathayus decline and Layla and Astarte fight, whilst Fung and Ari attempt to find the sword. Ari locates and obtains the sword, whilst Mathayus tries to persuade her to allow them to leave, she declines and sends Layla to hell, but not before Mathayus frees her and they all escape back to the human realm.
Astarte orders Sargon to get her sword back for her, and he requests for more powers, she accepts in exchange for the "Ultimate Sacrifice" and places a drop of blood on his head, in which markings form. They finally reach Akkad and Sargon has organized an event at the arena, which turns out to be a machine that dumps oil into the water supply, the oil and water begins to flow through statues into the city, the city is then set on fire.
Mathayus forces himself through to Sargon and meets his father, who turns out to be Sargon in disguise. Sargon disarms Mathayus and begins to fight him to the death. Ari (who was hiding under a table writing out what he was watching) picks up the sword. Mathayus makes a smart comment and Sargon turns to Ari and says "make sure you write that down, scribe" revealing Ari's presence. Sargon then asks Ari for the sword and it turns out that Sargon had been bribing Ari with riches, Ari tosses the sword to Sargon and exits. More chaos and fighting ensues in the city and we learn that the sword that Ari gave Sargon was a fake and easily shatters. Ari bursts in and gives Mathayus the real sword and tells Sargon to never trust a Greek, a recurring joke in the movie. Ari then leaves the room with a bow, but not before telling Sargon "I am a poet, not a scribe, you jackass." As Sargon states Mathayus owes his loyalty as a black scorpion, Mathayus burns off his scorpion tattoo with the sword and Sargon's skin begins to flake as he retreats into the shadows.
Sargon turns into a giant (and oftentimes nearly or completely invisible) scorpion, which Mathayus impales with the sword. Fung and Layla put out the fires in the city and are praised. Astarte tells Mathayus that she will show him no mercy and Mathayus tells her that she will have him one day, and he awakens in a bed after being nursed by Layla. Layla then tells Mathayus that he should be king, but Mathayus decides to live a life of adventure, traveling through the desert on his camel, knowing one day he shall be destined to be known as the Scorpion King.
was cast as the young Mathayus, Karen David
as the lead heroine, Layla, and Randy Couture
as the main villain, Sargon
.
Keith Uhlich of UGO said the film is "cheap, ugly, deadening, lacking even the common decency to be unintentionally funny, [the] sheer ineptitude increas[ing] with each passing scene." Film Jabber said The Scorpion King 2 "lacks action, excitement and, more importantly, quality," adding: "While the production values are decent enough for a film like this, you can tell from minute one that this movie was made simply to coincide with the theatrical release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
." Mark Pollard of Kung Fu Cinema said that "the lead actors [keep] the movie marginally entertaining long after the predictable plot, generic effects work, and poorly-edited screen fighting grows weary."
Sam Sloan of A Slice of Sci-Fi, said the film is "a notch up in quality from what is typically seen on a Saturday night from the Sci-Fi Channel
, remarking that director Russell Mulcahy "was able to turn what should have been a totally dreadful movie into a watchable film that didn’t make me feel like I had completely wasted an hour and a half of my time." Kenneth Brown of Hi-Def Digest said The Scorpion King 2 "feels like an aborted TV pilot
, [...] painfully overplotted, yet so mind-numbingly simple that it’s impossible to care about its characters or central conflicts."
titled The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption will be released in 2011 on DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
with Victor Webster
as Mathayus.
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to the 2002 film The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan...
, which was a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
to The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
, itself a sequel to the 1999 reimagining
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
of The Mummy
The Mummy (1932 film)
The Mummy is a 1932 horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan...
. Filming for the movie began on October 1, 2007, in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The film had a scheduled release date of August 19, 2008, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
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.
Plot
The story begins with a man explaining to his son that the world is not fun and games and to stay away from the arena. The son ignores this and engages in a giant fight with SargonSargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "the Great King" , was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 23rd and 22nd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned in the last quarter of the third millennium BC...
, instructing the children to do battle, in order to receive the training of a Black Scorpion. The battle ensues and Mathayus' female friend, Layla is found out in the midst by Sargon. Being forbidden to join the games, she is forced away by Sargon, before Mathayus hits him with a staff and gets caught by the guards, trying to escape. His father Ashur protects him and a duel between him and Sargon ensues, in which the Hammurabi states Ashur's son is to be given the training, Sargon's eyes turn black and he states that he will pay.
In the night, a large dark mist travels through the city, before entering the house of Mathayus and a swarm of scorpions rip apart Ashur's flesh and kills him. Mathayus vows to become the best of the Black Scorpion soldiers to get revenge. Years later, when he has completed his training, he learns that Sargon has become the new king of Akkad
Akkad
The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia....
. Upon re-uniting with his childhood friend Layla, his mother, and his brother, Noah, who is against the king, Mathayus is tasked by Sargon to kill Noah. Instead he breaks the chain around Noah's neck and tells him to run. He then takes this opportunity to attack his guard and eventually Sargon himself, using one of the guard's spears. When he throws the spear, it stops in mid-air in front of Sargon, before reversing direction toward Mathayus, who narrowly avoids being hit. He and Noah escape through the city on horseback, chased by a magical arrow fired by Sargon.
When Noah is killed by the arrow, Mathayus attempts to board a ship to Egypt, before noticing someone is following him, it turns out to be Layla and as he boards the ship, a Greek known as Ari informs them that the Spear of Osiris is only meant to kill Egyptian creatures, such as scarabs and mummies, and thus would be ineffective against him. (Ironically, it is the weapon that would be used to kill Mathayus himself after he became the Scorpion King in the movie Mummy Returns). Layla tells him that Sargon has been granted dark powers by the gods.
Ari tells them of the Sword of Damocles in the underworld, which can be used to kill him. Once in Egypt, they go to Greece to attempt to enter the palace, in order to get to the labyrinth and into the Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. On the way, they fall into a cell and are surrounded by sacrifices for the Minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
. After defeating the Minotaur, he attempts to enlist the aid of a group of mercenaries, who were slaves, and a lost man, named Fung, who was looking to get home to China. Once they enter the Underworld, they siphon through a desert, until a forest surrounds them.
They are approached by the goddess Astarte
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
, who forces them to beg for their lives. However, Layla and Mathayus decline and Layla and Astarte fight, whilst Fung and Ari attempt to find the sword. Ari locates and obtains the sword, whilst Mathayus tries to persuade her to allow them to leave, she declines and sends Layla to hell, but not before Mathayus frees her and they all escape back to the human realm.
Astarte orders Sargon to get her sword back for her, and he requests for more powers, she accepts in exchange for the "Ultimate Sacrifice" and places a drop of blood on his head, in which markings form. They finally reach Akkad and Sargon has organized an event at the arena, which turns out to be a machine that dumps oil into the water supply, the oil and water begins to flow through statues into the city, the city is then set on fire.
Mathayus forces himself through to Sargon and meets his father, who turns out to be Sargon in disguise. Sargon disarms Mathayus and begins to fight him to the death. Ari (who was hiding under a table writing out what he was watching) picks up the sword. Mathayus makes a smart comment and Sargon turns to Ari and says "make sure you write that down, scribe" revealing Ari's presence. Sargon then asks Ari for the sword and it turns out that Sargon had been bribing Ari with riches, Ari tosses the sword to Sargon and exits. More chaos and fighting ensues in the city and we learn that the sword that Ari gave Sargon was a fake and easily shatters. Ari bursts in and gives Mathayus the real sword and tells Sargon to never trust a Greek, a recurring joke in the movie. Ari then leaves the room with a bow, but not before telling Sargon "I am a poet, not a scribe, you jackass." As Sargon states Mathayus owes his loyalty as a black scorpion, Mathayus burns off his scorpion tattoo with the sword and Sargon's skin begins to flake as he retreats into the shadows.
Sargon turns into a giant (and oftentimes nearly or completely invisible) scorpion, which Mathayus impales with the sword. Fung and Layla put out the fires in the city and are praised. Astarte tells Mathayus that she will show him no mercy and Mathayus tells her that she will have him one day, and he awakens in a bed after being nursed by Layla. Layla then tells Mathayus that he should be king, but Mathayus decides to live a life of adventure, traveling through the desert on his camel, knowing one day he shall be destined to be known as the Scorpion King.
Cast
In August 2007, it was reported that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would not reprise his role, but instead, Michael CoponMichael Copon
Michael Sowell Copon is an American actor, model, producer, and singer. He is known for his role of Felix Taggaro in the television series One Tree Hill, playing Vin Keahi in the television series Beyond the Break, and starring in Power Rangers: Time Force.-Early life:Copon was born in Chesapeake,...
was cast as the young Mathayus, Karen David
Karen David
Karen Shenaz David is an Indian-born American actress and singer-songwriter who is best known for portraying Francesca Kirby in the BBC series Waterloo Road.- Early life :...
as the lead heroine, Layla, and Randy Couture
Randy Couture
Randy Duane Couture is a retired American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor, a three-time former heavyweight champion, two-time former light-heavyweight champion, former interim light heavyweight champion and UFC 13 tournament winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
as the main villain, Sargon
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "the Great King" , was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 23rd and 22nd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned in the last quarter of the third millennium BC...
.
- Michael CoponMichael CoponMichael Sowell Copon is an American actor, model, producer, and singer. He is known for his role of Felix Taggaro in the television series One Tree Hill, playing Vin Keahi in the television series Beyond the Break, and starring in Power Rangers: Time Force.-Early life:Copon was born in Chesapeake,...
as Mathayus - Karen DavidKaren DavidKaren Shenaz David is an Indian-born American actress and singer-songwriter who is best known for portraying Francesca Kirby in the BBC series Waterloo Road.- Early life :...
as Layla - Simon QuartermanSimon QuartermanSimon Quarterman is a British actor.He has appeared in many British television shows, including Down to Earth, Midsomer Murders, Holby City and EastEnders, playing Paul Jenkins, and the miniseries Victoria & Albert. He is one of the main characters in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a...
as Ari - Tom WuTom WuTom Wu is Chinese-American actor, born in Hong Kong and grew up in Chinatown, London. He is a martial arts expert who has starred in films like Revolver,Shanghai Knights, Batman Begins and the Bollywood sci-fi blockbuster Ra.One....
as Fong - Andreas Wisniewski as Pollux
- Randy CoutureRandy CoutureRandy Duane Couture is a retired American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor, a three-time former heavyweight champion, two-time former light-heavyweight champion, former interim light heavyweight champion and UFC 13 tournament winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
as Sargon - Natalie Becker as AstarteAstarteAstarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
- Jeremy Crutchley as Baldo
- Shane Manie as Jesup
Critical reaction
The movie had a widely negative reception. Beyond Hollywood said "the film is a complete loss, you have to wonder what the filmmakers could have done with a better script, a better cast, and a director who isn’t so hit-and-miss as to be infuriating." Aaron Peck of Blog Critics said, "I really wanted to like this movie. The first Scorpion King is a laugh-fest yes, but it’s fun to watch. This movie is painful."Keith Uhlich of UGO said the film is "cheap, ugly, deadening, lacking even the common decency to be unintentionally funny, [the] sheer ineptitude increas[ing] with each passing scene." Film Jabber said The Scorpion King 2 "lacks action, excitement and, more importantly, quality," adding: "While the production values are decent enough for a film like this, you can tell from minute one that this movie was made simply to coincide with the theatrical release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a 2008 American action adventure film and sequel to The Mummy and The Mummy Returns . The film stars Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford, and Jet Li, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States...
." Mark Pollard of Kung Fu Cinema said that "the lead actors [keep] the movie marginally entertaining long after the predictable plot, generic effects work, and poorly-edited screen fighting grows weary."
Sam Sloan of A Slice of Sci-Fi, said the film is "a notch up in quality from what is typically seen on a Saturday night from the Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, remarking that director Russell Mulcahy "was able to turn what should have been a totally dreadful movie into a watchable film that didn’t make me feel like I had completely wasted an hour and a half of my time." Kenneth Brown of Hi-Def Digest said The Scorpion King 2 "feels like an aborted TV pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, [...] painfully overplotted, yet so mind-numbingly simple that it’s impossible to care about its characters or central conflicts."
Sequel
A sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
titled The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption will be released in 2011 on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
with Victor Webster
Victor Webster
Victor Webster is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Brennan Mulwray in Mutant X and "Coop" on Charmed.-Life and career:...
as Mathayus.