The Scorpion King

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Scorpion King

This article discusses the fictional film, for the factual pre-dynastic Egyptian pharaoh, see King Scorpion

Promotional poster for The Scorpion King

The Scorpion King is a 2002 movie starring The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu and Grant Heslov, and is directed by Chuck Russell. It is a spin-off prequel to The Mummy series, following the story of Mathayus the Scorpion King, the character who was featured in The Mummy Returns.

The events of The Scorpion King take place 5000 years before the events in The Mummy Returns, and shows Mathayus' origins and how he rose to power as the Scorpion King. The name itself is a reference to a disputably real king during the protodynastic period of Ancient Egyptian history, King Scorpion.

The Scorpion King was the first movie where The Rock played a lead role, following on from his big-screen debut as a peripheral character in The Mummy Returns.

It has a runtime of 92 minutes.

The band Godsmack made the song "I Stand Alone" for this movie, which is heard in the credits.

Tagline: Warrior. Legend. King.

Contents

1 Plot
2 Historical Accuracy
3 Trivia
4 Soundtrack
5 See also
6 External links

Plot

Mathayus, an Akkadian mercenary, is assigned to kill Memnon's sorcerer, who gives him tyrannical powers. In the first attempt to assassinate her, his brother is killed and he sets out to get revenge against Memnon. He meets the sorceress, Cassandra, in Gommorah and kidnaps her, hoping to use her as bait to kill Memnon. During one of Memnon's attempts to kill Mathayus, he is shot by an arrow with scorpion venom, thus the term Scorpion King. Their journey brings them up against Balthazar, the leader of Memnon's enemies. The two join forces and attack Memnon's capital, eventually killing Memnon. Mathayus becomes king, with Cassandra by his side.

Historical Accuracy

The plot is supposedly set in the pre-historical Middle East but events, peoples, places and circumstances are in sharp contradiction to actual history, making Scorpion King one of the least accurate films regarding History. This is only a brief summary of gaps and errors that stand out most prominently :

Mathayus is supposed to be an Akkadian mercenary in a time before the first empires but this is historically anachronic, unless the story is specified to take place just before the rise of the Akkadian empire (2200 B.C.E.) -- but this would be too late to allow Mathayos to being the Scorpion King (who must have ruled Ancient Egypt at least a thousand years before).
The Akkadians were Semites but Mathayos has some physical features linking him to either Native Americans or Polynesians.
Mathayus is suspectfully similar to Μαθθαιος (Classical Greek for Matthew).
Everyone uses what seems to be steel or at least iron weapons, millenia before they were available.
If one accepts as historically accurate the Bible's location of Sodom and Gomorrah in a valley plain, then the film's Gomorah must be another namesake place.
Memnon is a Greek name, more than a thousand years before the Greeks reached the Mediterranean
The film incorrectly depicts Canaan as a semidesertic place which in nonsensical: It is widely accepted that that region had a milder climate, with more rainfall allowing more permanent rivers, thrieving wildlife and productive agriculture. This view harmonises quite well with the advancement of civilisation that was found there (without modern technology a city cannot exist in a desert).
Cassandra has a Greek name but has oriental features (hard to explain in that historical context).
Not a slightest mention of any religion (except for the "sorcerer") is ever made, despite the key role played by religion (polytheism) in the Ancient Middle East.
There are many blacks among the characters, which disagrees with historical evidence.
Mathayus is made king of a Canaan city, instead of Egypt (This actually is not a problem for actual History, but for continuity with The Mummy Returns).

Trivia

Some of the scorpions depicted in this movie were computer-generated; however, others were live emperor scorpion (Pandinus imperator) specimens, which are commonly kept as exotic household pets.
This movie is a prequel of a sequel of a movie that was a remake of another movie that was made 70 years ago.
More scenes had to be shot due to the movie being around 70 minutes long after being edited.
Dwayne Johnson has said that he intentionally shied away from using any trademarks of his WWF character The Rock, in order to give the Scorpion King character a life of its own. The only exception was "The People's Eyebrow," which he does in response to another character's reference to a harem. He said he included the People's Eyebrow to acknowledge the "millions and millions" of Rock fans.
The sorceress's name, Cassandra, is a reference to the daughter of Priam, king of Troy, who was given the gift to see the future by her lover the Greek god Apollo.
The Rock uses a rolling gong as a shield; Harrison Ford did the same thing in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The "Gomorrah Bazaar" sequences were filmed on a re-dressed Spartacus set on the backlot at Universal Studios.
While filming the fight scene between Mathayus and Balthazar, Michael Clarke Duncan accidentally leaned too far forward, allowing The Rock's elbow to make direct contact with his jaw, knocking him to the ground. Later, Duncan used makeup to make the injury seem worse than it actually was, as a prank on Johnson (The Rock).
The cave that the Rock and the bandits come out of is the bat cave from the 1966 Batman film.
The Rock's salary of $5.5 million made the Guinness Book Of World Records for the highest salary for a first-time leading man.
Early in the production the villain role was written for Chow Yun-Fat. But Chow's manager vetoed this saying that Chow never plays villains and that doing so would betray his fans. However, Chow did play the part of a villain in The Corruptor (1999) and is signed up for the role of Captain Sao Feng in the third Pirates of the Caribbean film.

Soundtrack

Godsmack - I Stand Alone
P.O.D. - Set It Off (Tweaker Remix)
Drowning Pool - Break You
System of a Down - Streamline
Creed - To Whom It May Concern
Nickelback - Yanking Out My Heart
Hoobastank - Losing My Grip
Flaw - Only The Strong
Rob Zombie featuring Ozzy Osbourne - Iron Head
12 Stones - My Life
Mushroomhead - Along The Way
Lifer - Breathless
Sevendust - Corrected
Injected - Burn It Black
Breaking Point - 27
Coal Chamber - Glow

External links

[Official Site]