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New releases: Other child of 'Mummy' a bad seed
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 3, 2002
The Scorpion King (PG-13)
[Photo: Universal Studios]
The Rock, left, and Michael Clarke Duncan are uneasy allies in The Scorpion King. |
A minor character in The Mummy Returns becomes the focus of an equally silly desert adventure. Pro wrestling star the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) plays Mathayus, a warrior protecting his homeland from an evil invader, Memnon (Steven Brand). Along the way, Mathayus kidnaps the villain's favorite sorceress (Kelly Hu) and bands with a rival bruiser (Michael Clarke Duncan).
First impressions: "It's been a while since anyone in Hollywood dared to make a movie so transparently cheesy as The Scorpion King. Even longer since we've been introduced to a side of beef as impressively untalented as the Rock, a pro wrestler who may wind up being the next Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Yet, there's something mildly endearing about all this shoddiness, a nostalgic reminder of days when effects weren't so special and a severed head looked more like a Halloween prank than a reason to barf. The Scorpion King is a bad movie, make no mistake, but it wears its incompetence with pride."
Second thoughts: How about matching the Rock against Vin Diesel in a sequel?
Rental audience: The Rock's considerable fan base.
Rent it if you enjoy: Either of The Mummy flicks; pro wrestling pay-per-views.
Brotherhood of the Wolf (R)
[Photo: Universal Focus]
Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos investigate strange occurrences in the French horror film Brotherhood of the Wolf.
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A mysterious creature preys on women and children in an 18th century French countryside. The king dispatches a swashbuckling scientist (Samuel Le Bihan) and his brawny Mohawk sidekick (Mark Dacascos) to investigate. The result is a series of exciting brawls and historical liberties adding a dimension to the werewolf movie genre.
First impressions: "There is nothing subtle about the French horror flick Brotherhood of the Wolf, surely the first movie to combine 18th century period details, a hound bigger than the Baskervilles and Matrix-style martial arts. Director Christophe Gans fashioned a seductively violent yarn pumped up on its imagined importance: schlock wearing the cloak of high art.
Brotherhood of the Wolf does get tiring around the two-hour mark, having exhausted its bag of cinema tricks and kung fu kicks without a decent logical explanation for those massacred women and children. There's nearly another half-hour to go, and a late explosion of Lord of the Rings-style computer effects don't make it breeze by. Gans' sexy excess holds us hostage, however, until the final frame."
Second thoughts: Can't wait to see this one again myself.
Rental audience: Art-film enthusiasts with a macabre streak; gorehounds who can read subtitles.
Rent it if you enjoy: In the Company of Wolves, Bram Stoker's Dracula.
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