The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012 Video) User Reviews

The Scorpion King 3 Battle for Redemption: Oddly passable

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 10 May 2018]

Considering I didn't rate the big Hollywood blockbuster The Scorpion King (2002) I sure as hell didn't expect I'd think much of the straight to DVD sequels.

The second surprised me and was actually really quite fun, a great take your brain out fantasy outing.

This one, was closer in quality to the first but still better than you'd expect all things considered.

Starring Ron Perlman, Billy Zane, Temuera Morrison, Kimbo Slice and Dave Bautista it's straight to DVD status is blatant but it's not entirely awful.

Set after the 2002 outing it tells the story of our Scorpion King protagonist fallen on hard times and becoming a mercenary. Sadly The Rock by this point had become too big a star to return so Victor Webster stepped in. Now I do hate characters being recast but under the circumstances I think he did a decent enough job both in his performance and appearance.

With an odd level of comedy Battle for Redemption delivers the goods to a degree but not the ones you'd be seeking from a movie like this. The fight sequences are poor, the story is cliched to hell and the likes of Perlman are barely on camera at all.

Not bad, not good, just passable stuff.

The Good:

Couple of great characters

Billy Zane

Some surprisingly good comedy

The Bad:

Selina Lo

Action scenes are underwhelming

I do hate recasting

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This film is a sequel to a prequel to a prequel of a sequel of a remake (No seriously!)

Last time I saw Olaf he was called Donald Gibb

Fails to Redeem anything

[xamtaro · 5/10 · 18 February 2012]

Remember that Conan ripoff star vehicle for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? Be honest with yourself and know that it was NOT "A" grade cinema. Nothing beyond a fun but shallow summer blockbuster. It was enjoyable, had great fight scenes, good humor and Dwayne Johnson himself as Mathyus the scorpion king, but far from what is normally considered "award winning". Then came a prequel with Mathyus as a kid which felt like a pilot movie for Young Hercules. So bad it was that It could only have tanked. Now for some reason, Universal has gone back to the franchise and given us the very appropriately named "Scorpion King 3: battle for Redemption". Hoping to redeem the franchise, this film only buries it deeper.

Promising to bridge the gap between The Scorpion King and the prelude to "The Mummy Returns", Mathyus looses his kingdom and his queen. No, he does not becoming a wandering warlord out to exact bloody vengeance upon the world (as implied by The Mummy Returns). Instead he returns to his old mercenary ways and takes a contract from King Horus (Ron "I need the cash badly" Perlman) to stop his brother Talus (Billy "ham who doesn't give a crap" Zane) from conquering a kingdom in the far east and possessing the fabled "Book of the Dead".

Now the main gripe with this film is that not only does it not provide a proper bridge between The Scorpion King and The Mummy Returns, it fails to develop its own story into anything remotely like the first Scorpion King film. For starters, there's Mathyus who is now played by Canadian actor Victor Webster. While he does have the build, he lacks the presence of personality that Dwayne Johnson brought to the role. Furthermore, his Mathyus seems to be wholly unaffected by his tragic past. Did not the narrator say he was a broken man longing for a glorious death? Instead he's the same sarcastic, cynical, smiling idiot he's always been.

In scraping the bottom of the creativity barrel, the writers present one of the most confusing plots. They have Mathyus team up with the warrior Olaf (played by Bostin Christopher looking like a bad Jack Black impersonator) and travel to Thailand to save king Jango Fett (actually King Ramusan, but really he is played by the same dude who played Jango) and his daughter. While in Thailand, they have to fight Talus' army of what looks like Roman legionnaires, a resistance group of ninjas, and a demonic trio comprising of Voodoo Mcbruiser, a Shao Khan wannabe and a white haired witch from Chinese wuxia movies.

This movie lacks everything that the first Scorpion King film had. Even the prequel Scorpion King 2 at least had Russell Mulcahy as director; his tracking shots and wide crane panning sequences lending a dynamic feel to an otherwise insipid movie. Roel Reine's directing is standard action movie fare; lots of quick cuts, close ups, half body shots and the mandatory slow motion.

Billy Zane's character makes a nice quote that sums up the Scorpion King franchise at this point, "I will rise again like a bad idea.". Yes, this is an actual quote from the film. Thank you scriptwriters. Thanks to yet another bad idea, we have a wholly unnecessary entry to a dying franchise that never delivers on what it promises. The battle for redemption ends in utter failure.

5/10

[muveenthusiast · 5/10 · 1 January 2012]

With each sequel to Scorpion King the movie gets worse and worse. I'm not sure if it's because of the shrinking budget, but there's definitely something wrong with this. The script was just plain and cliché, like you can see in any exotic movie or video game of this type (like Prince of Persia) or all the previous Scorpion Kings. Other than this the film offers a lot of muscle and skin without any noticeable acting and handpicked women from Asia and some men from W.W.E. Championship to spice it up a little bit. Of course there are also some jokes which could make a 5th-grade-kid smile. Directing becomes rather trivial behind all these so I'm skipping it. So if you're looking for something to kill your time go ahead, but if you're in it for the art or cinematography this is not for you, keep away.

A Xena like film, nothing to do with the Mummy or the Scorpion King

[siderite · 29 December 2011]

It was like a test: can the third part of a franchise that spawned out of another franchise that wasn't that good be any good? Can Ron Perlman and Billy Zane save it? And the test was failed miserably.

Let me explain this to you in a way that anyone can understand: if you watch this on fast forward x4, it will be a total waste of your time. At least Ron Perlman has a small role appearing at the beginning and the end of the film. Billy Zane does his usual evil smiling villain, but it is not enough. And the "Scorpion King", not only does he not act like one, he actually plays the entire movie as a positive hero with no baggage. The only connection remains the "deep voiced" words of the narrator who pretty much says: "this is the Scorpion King! Really!" and then disappears. And the actor... is Victor Webster! He played in Mutant X, for crying out loud, and looks like an underwear model.

Bottom line: avoid this film at all costs. Or watch it at x8, maybe it works then.

Waste of Time...Avoid at all costs

[kate_uk-929-522981 · 1/10 · 10 January 2012]

After seeing the Mummy films, from which i loved, i was excited at the first Scorpion King film to show show his story. Then they had a sequel showing the upbringing of the SK, which had mixed reviews, but was watchable. This had me thinking - they should've left it at that.

Watching this new sequel to the scorpion king films, I wouldn't recommend to anyone. The acting is appalling, the fighting was very poor. Their attempt at keeping the storyline entertaining failed miserably, you would think an Arcadian would be able to fight. The main character Mathayus, was played by a non action star in an action film - don't make sense. Avoid at all costs!!

One of the worst movies I've ever watched

[wlarkan · 1/10 · 6 January 2012]

I fell asleep attempting to watch the first time around and decided, against my better judgment that I should finish watching it before I wrote a review. what a mistake.

The movie cant make up it's mind if it is Roman, Greek, barbarian, Chinese or Indian which made me think that due to a low budget they just raided the a warehouse of leftover props from better movies.

Words cannot explain how bad the dialog was: a constant series or awful one-liners that actually left me feeling slightly sick. Not to mention some of the worst acting I've ever seen.

It's difficult to think of a man, with prettier hair than most girls I know, being a mighty warrior, and to be honest he's really not that impressive in the movie... His fat barbarian friend outshines him in most fights... sigh

I would strongly recommend you do not waste your time on this movie, because, no matter how low you standards, you will wont enjoy it.

very difficult to watch

[shabi24 · 1/10 · 10 January 2012]

This movie has some terrible acting by Victor Webster and they try to add humor which ends up being very dry. After 10 minutes watching you feel like just turning it off. I gave it a chance and watch the entire movie. A complete waste of time watching this movie.

Before watching this movie look and see if anyone has one good thing to say about this movie. Its the worse movie I have seen in a long time that I'm glad I did not purchase this movie. Its not even worth being placed on the $5 clearance shelf at any store.

be warned this movie is not worth watching at all!!

Wasn't one time where anything good or decent happened and you will just be searching the entire movie for something to validate watching the movie. movie for the trash bin for sure.

B-Grade Movie

[joshlance · 1/10 · 2 January 2012]

It's very unfortunate that a movie with such a star studded cast should be made with such a low budget. The sets are weak! The lack of people on the sets is deplorable. The "Kingdom" seems more like a village with some excuse of an army. The use of CGi is very evident in many scenes and makes the whole set look very cheap and tacky. The "Great" Scorpion King keeps getting hammered in almost all the fights! None of the "glory" or the fact that he's a "great" warrior come's through. Story line has none of the punch or substance like the previous installments of the movie! The story ends with a whimper and not with a bang as the movie would like to portray! So sad! Total Dis-appointment!

Waste of time

[onefuncapt-5-639863 · 3/10 · 4 February 2012]

Please do not go into this movie thinking it is going to be anything like Scorpion King or Scorpion King 2. The first one was great, the second one was good, but this one is a total waste of time. It is nothing like the first two since this "king" is now a hired assassin and no longer a king. The dialog is terrible, the fight scenes unrealistic, the acting seemed like they were reading off cue cards, there was no emotion at all. The story may have had something to do with it since there was very little plot to follow. Just random fight scenes, and the 6'5" 300 lb king got beat up by a 5' tall 90 lb woman in one of them. I don't know what happened to Billy Zane, but he lost whatever acting skills he had (which were minimal to begin with). He was flat out horrible. Truly, honestly, and sincerely-do not waste your time on this just because you may think it is a continuation of the Scorpion series. It is not and it stinks

Better than the first sequel but still dumb

[breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com · 5/10 · 8 February 2017]

When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took the role as the Scorpion King in Stephen Sommers' The Mummy Returns (2001), it's hard to say whether viewers thought a series would continue this far. The first film wasn't cinematic gold, but it had charm for varying instances. The sequel prequel that came after it though was a step down from it. Not only was it boring but the story line didn't feel believable. Plus new characters were introduced that would not return in the films chronology. There was no point in it. As for continuing it, if the film makes money, of course make more entries. As much as a mess the last film was, the producers were smart enough to release it in the home video market. If this was released theatrically, these films would be doing a lot worse financially. For this third film in the series the quality to this has slightly improved but still has its problems. Thankfully of all things, this installment is not another prequel. Otherwise this time line would be all screwed up.

Although it has 3 in its title, this is a sequel to the first Scorpion King (2002). After the decimation of his people and his wife from a mysterious plague, the Scorpion King (Victor Webster) goes back to his roots as a mercenary. On his travels, he is hired by King Horus (Ron Perlman) to infiltrate and stop his jealous brother Talus (Billy Zane) from invading his territory. Talus' wants to conquer Horus' land with the book of the dead. He can only do this by taking over Ramusan's (Temuera Morrison) land, while holding his daughter Silda (Krystal Vee) hostage. Teaming up with the Scorpion King is Olaf (Bostin Christopher) who was also sent by Horus for no other reason than he fights well. Written by Shane Kuhn and Brendan Cowles, the script is still fairly senseless but does manage to build on past stories than deconstruct them. For one thing, the continuity is explained as to what happened to the Scorpion King's wife and the people that followed him. It's not very specific but it is mentioned so that's a plus.

Roel Reiné was the director for this feature and how its handled is also a tad better. Instead of slowly moving from one task to the next, different situations ensue. Both Cowles and Kuhn have worked before with Reiné on other projects together so perhaps this is why the story has better flow. Roel Reiné has directed many other sequels like Death Race 2 (2010), The Man With the Iron Fists 2 (2015) and Hard Target 2 (2016). However even with forgivable continuity, the screenplay goes on to fail in other spots. One of the biggest flaws are various physical impossibilities. Some of it really just doesn't make any sense. A character's ear is ripped off by someone's hand. How is somebody that strong? Another character gets severely injured but has no problems later on. Nobody can heal that fast. Another problem is the acting of characters. Bostin Christopher as Olaf had some moments of comedic value but all he does it make the film feel like a bad buddy film. His dialog is also too contemporary for ancient times.

As for acting, Billy Zane chews the scenery every time he's on screen. As a villain, he comes off more as a parody to an antagonist than an actual threat. Sometimes this is funny but overall it feels out of place. Ron Perlman and Temuera Morrison are both underplayed and are not that interesting. Thankfully Victor Webster as the new Scorpion King tries to make his role his own. Not every line he says comes off forced but occasionally it doesn't sound right. For one thing, he at least looks similar to Dwayne Johnson. Krystal Vee as the daughter Ramusan is okay in her performance. She too has more personality than most and has sufficient chemistry with Webster. As for her development, its overused plot threads but at least its identifiable. There's also appearances from Dave Bautista, Kevin 'Kimbo Slice' Ferguson and Selina Lo as spirits to the book of the dead. They however have very little development. The original story writer was Randall McCormick who did the last film.

The action sequences to the film were well staged although they had one drawback. That being that in almost every scene that involved action, had multiple slow motion shots. This happened frequently and it felt like in some ways, the film was just buying time. It looks good, but too much of it loses the spectacle. Working as cinematographer was also Roel Reiné. For a while the setting was in the desert but it quickly shifts to jungle brush. This is okay but it's a bit disorienting. Nevertheless the picture looks good in its display. Very little of it seems fake except for a few shots. Roel Reiné has done almost as much cinematography as he's done his own projects. The music was composed by Trevor Morris. Another Roel Reiné collaborator, Morris has done more TV scores than theatrical films however the sound is decent considering it being a DVD release. However it is odd that no official score was released when every other Scorpion film in this series has one. Really weird.

While it may be somewhat better than the film before it, it's not by a large amount. Victor Webster as the new Scorpion King is a suitable replacement. However much of the other actors involved seem less invested. The script tries to build on the first film but retreads familiar territory.

The producers should be tortured and killed

[Jeffshore78 · 1/10 · 22 April 2012]

This is a great movie if you want a good laugh. I cannot even say what the movie was about since there is no plot- just endless bad one liners and ridiculous fight scenes between roman soldiers an ninjas and barbarians and ghost warriors and elephants and some chick whose clothes reveal more skin as the movie drags on. I love conan movies and other mindless movies like that, but this was so painfully stupid i wished i could hold my breath and pass out. At times i don't think the actors even know who they are supposed to be fighting. I paid one buck for this movie at redbox and feel totally ripped off...where do the chariot races fit in??? Was this movie really under 2 hours???? It felt like 50 hours...

Definitely direct to video, but there are some saving graces....

[stanquinn-52-789942 · 8/10 · 8 March 2012]

My rating is somewhat generous, but mostly because of my love of two things, Thailand, and beautiful women fighting. Those are pretty much the highlights of the film. The film plods along until about 1/2 way through when the undead warriors are woken. Visually they are the most interesting part of the film. The special effects for them are more then adequate, although they could have given Bautiste a better calling card...well any calling card really, since I saw them more as Mortal Kombat type figure's with cool finishing moves. For me the saving grace of the film is the battle scene between the princess and the undead Japanese warrioress...or perhaps she's a ninja. I'm not quite sure, but she looks badass with her two fighting blades and long flowing white hair, not to mention the sexy fighting leathers. Same goes for the princess who is also a true beauty. Most of the fight scenes aren't particularly choreographed well, but this scene was actually quite excellent. The fighting is believable, and the lines...what I like to think of as those photographic moments you'd see in a comic book panel are all there. If you love Thailand you'll also enjoy this film because it's obviously filmed there, from the people, to the jungle, to the elephants, and the ancient temples.

Sword and witchery film with a great number of battles , frantic action , sword-play and fantastic elements

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 20 May 2020]

Since his rise to power developed in Scorpion King I¨ , Mathayus' (Victor Webster) kingdom has fallen and his sweetheart The Sorceress (Kelli Hu) has deceased by pest . Nowadays , drifter Mathayus is a bounty hunter and a hired killer , then he have to defend a kingdom governed by Horus (Ron Perlman) from his rogue brother (Billy Zane) , a nasty tyrant who has convoked dark forces by reading The Book of the dead : as three ghost warriors with incredible power suddenly appear to defeat them . Mathayus assisted by a German barbarian hunk named Olaf (Christopher) has to rescue a princess , daughter of Ramusan (Temuera Morrison) from the claws of the feared Talus who kidnapped her.

Thrilling and fantasy movie with lots of action , fights , adventures and swordplay . Here Mathays/Victor Webster must face off some fantastic enemies and tyrants for the chance to regain the glory and power he once knew . This passable actioner is more in Sword and Necromancy vein than an epic movie. Yes , it is cheesy , at times, but it doesn't actually strive for any more , and it results to be entertaining and amusing enough . In terms of milking a cash cow being really inspired by the original ¨Scorpion King¨by Stephen Sommers that at the same time was a spin-off to ¨Mummy¨ saga also directed by Sommers . Here all the men have the ordinary requisite amount , boasting themselves as well as showing muscles and strength , while women are all scantly clad. This one has a better cast than the second outing that were unknown actors , here stands out a nice cast as Victor Webster , Ron Perlman, Bily Zane , Temuera Morrison and Dave Bautista , furthermore a young gorgeous newcomer Kristal Vee.

The motion picture was professional, though with no originality , directed by Roel Reiné . He is a good Dutch filmmaker who has directed some good films , and with success enough . This Netherland filmmaker has directed a number of films and many of them are sequels . Roel has directed all kinds of genres with penchant for action movies . He has shot remakes and sequels as Hard target 2 , The condemned 2 , The Man with the iron mask , 12 rounds , Seal team eight , Redbeard , The Marine 2 and decent movies as The Admiral , the lost tribe, The Bear . As well as many episodes of notorious TV series as Black sails, Knightfall , Redball legend , Inhumans , among others.

This Scorpion King saga is formed by the following films : Scorpion King 2002 by Stephen Sommers with Dwayne Johnson The Rock, Steven Brand , Kelli Hu, Grant Heslov , Bernard Hill , Michael Clarke Duncan . Scorpion King The rise of a warrior 2008 by Russell Mulcahy with Michael Copon , Karen David , Tom Wu, Randy Couture , Natalie Becker . King Scorpion 3 Battle for redemption 2012 by Raoul Reine with Victor Webster , Billy Zane , Ron Perlman, Selina Lo, Keli Hu. The Scorpion King The lost throne 2015 with Victor Webster , Ellen Holliman , Will Kemp, Barry Bostwick , Rutger Hauer , Michael Biehn , M. Emmet Walsh. The Scorpion King , Book of souls 2019 by Don Michael Paul with Zach McGowan , Mayling , Peter Mensah, Nathan Jones .

A movie for fans of the series only. I couldn't get into it. Makes original look like Oscar winner. I say D+

[cosmo_tiger · 4/10 · 8 January 2012]

"Your mission is to defeat my brother." Mathayus's (Webster) kingdom has fallen and his wife has died. He is now an assassin that is hired by King Horus (Perlman) to stop the rise of his brother and the army of ghost warriors. I have to start off by saying that I didn't really like the original. To me it was very cheesy and over the top and more of a comedy then an action movie. After watching 2 & 3 the first one looks like an Oscar winner. This review will be short because it was a struggle to make it through and I did end up falling asleep a few times and I think I missed some important stuff, but I didn't care enough to rewind it. If you like the others you will like this one. If you didn't then I would avoid it. Overall, a movie for fans of the series only. I give it a D+.

Don't be tempted by # 3.....

[gurubesar · 2 January 2012]

This is typical Hollywood me too products. The first Scorpion King is okay. The second Scorpion King was worse than the first one but still enjoyable. And if that is any indication, then you would expect that the 3rd series would be watchable. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The story-line is quite confusing. If the first and the second part was in some Middle East related country, this one is not very clear. It start with some sort of Middle East scenery, then you have building which definitely look like the one you find in Thailand and the inhabitant have all the Eastern look-like feature. Of course you have to have the Thai-box action and to make more confusing...... a ninja.... The only thing you can enjoy on this movie is if you like muscular men parading their half naked body in the tattered clothing and strangely enough this big men are very easy to knock out. A little slap from a woman will render them unconscious...

Anyway, don't waste you money or time on this one. I did and I regret that nobody was giving me a warning.....

terrible movie

[wwharton4 · 1/10 · 18 March 2012]

I convinced my friends to see it because the cover and trailer looked cool and it had some semi big name actors I like but wow, this movie is the kind of bad that isn't enjoyable to watch or make fun of. The two main characters are unrecognizable and terrible actors. The dialogue is bad and it really is a straight to DVD movie you'll want to avoid. The hot girls are the only thing semi interesting but its not worth putting up with the rest to see them briefly. So I need more lines of text? OK, some of the scenes look like they were filmed in a living room. The battles are odd. They do the same move like 5 times. They randomly have elephants standing in the background and keep grabbing their tusks and letting the elephants lift them. It serves no real purpose but since they paid for the elephants I guess they just wanted to get as much film of them as possible.

Worst movie of the year! Or ever?

[j7lr · 1/10 · 26 December 2011]

Wost dialog EVER! Cheesy doesn't even begin to describe this script. A lot of the dialog seems like it was added in post editing. (sounds slightly off, and they often cut away from who's speaking so you don't see them mouthing the words).

I don't comment much, but this was a a huge step down.

Horrible movie

[eqlordain · 1/10 · 19 January 2012]

I would not bother wasting your time watching this cheap low budget film, acting is awful, narrations are insulting at best. I couldn't even make it 10 minutes into this movie before turning it off, and taking it back to the store for a refund.

The Scorpion King movies were good until this horrible... I almost want to say knockoff as that is what it seemed like. The Rock isn't in this, and his Queen although is shown in the movie, it is only a 4-5 second clip from the older movies.

The two main characters from what I seen of the movie the scorpion king, and some brute ape looking guy all they do is fight amongst themselves for awhile in the beginning, using lines such as "did I mess up your hair" and "you like my face"(as methious headbutt's the other guy) cheesy, cheap, and as I said, not worth wasting your time on.

Really bad

[tamhtran · 2/10 · 10 January 2012]

Really annoying characters. The plot is typical of an action movie for teenager. The script seems like it was written by a teenager and therefore it will be unbearable for most adults. Costumes and set designer can't figure out which era this movie is from. I can not believe someone waste so much time and money to make garbage movie like this. So many cheesy lines and scenes that doesn't make sense. I though any movie with a budget of over $1 mil would have a editor to eliminate stuffs that doesn't make sense. I do feel sorry for all those involved in such a poor project. Please try to watch your own movie once before releasing it to the public! see if you could last 15 minutes. Everyone, save your time and pass this one.

So many things wrong with this...

[rondonnelly · 1/10 · 20 January 2012]

There are so many irritating factors to this movie that I just couldn't watch it for the obvious escapism that it was meant to deliver. I knew it was going to be poor before it started as the narrator's voice lacked any depth or sense of drama and frankly didn't sound suitable.

The acting was generally awful with the exception of Ron Perlman, who wasn't on the screen long enough. Billy Zane was his usual villainous self, but he brought absolutely nothing new and the producers could have just reached for their handy 'cast a bad-guy' book. At one point, when the actress who was being resurrected from the dead uttered her first lines, I thought I'd been taken back to my daughter's school performances when she was about 8. Except she was better! Most of the rest were hammy to say the least, although I didn't think that Victor Webster in the title role was too bad, if a little low on charisma.

Which brings me to the dialogue. I know that with a predominantly North American cast, the broader accents might not seem appropriate on occasion, especially in an ancient setting. But when the Scorpion King tells his sidekick to "quit bellyachin'", I just couldn't avoid laughing at how ridiculous it sounded. The whole movie was riddled with clichés and the script had little imagination.

Then there was the confusion with geography and anachronisms. Bearing in mind that the action takes place around 5,000 years ago, one can accept the odd bit of poetic licence in a fantasy action film, but the producer was really taking liberties here. At the start, we see the Scorpion King and his new-found sidekick riding across sand dunes on the way to his destination. Bearing in mind this franchise was spawned from the Mummy films, you'd expect that it may have been in the Middle East. It seems no time at all when into their camp stroll an ambush of tigers (I looked up the collective noun) so suddenly they're in India, I think. But the people are a mixture of oriental and European, it seems. Then some of the buildings tell you maybe it's Thailand. But half way through, Ninjas appear! It can't be Japan – they didn't get on any boat.

The anachronisms were equally irritating. I've already mentioned the Ninja, who hadn't really surfaced as a trained force until at least the 15th century AD. The use of trebuchets in the movie was 4,000 years before they were invented. The telescopes that were used were 4,500 years ahead of their time. And the Scorpion King's hefty friend came from Germania, which was probably first called that in Roman times, 3,000 years later (and it would have been impossible for a North-western European to go so far east 5,000 years ago). They were quite close with the use of elephants in warfare, though – only 2-3,000 years early.

As I said, this is a fantasy film and I may be a bit pedantic, but don't waste your money on this one is my suggestion.

Well, what do you expect from number 3 in a series which spun off from another series which got worse as it went on?

[neil-476 · 5/10 · 22 March 2015]

Poor old Mathayus, the Scorpion King: things are going from bad to worse. The hot oriental girl he hooked up with in his first solo film has passed away, and now he gets involved in trying to depose a tyrant. If you are reading this, I truly do not believe that you need any more plot synopsis than that.

First showing up as a largely CGI Dwayne Johnson in The Mummy Returns before spinning off into a solo outing, his success was enough to enable The Rock to start making films under his actual name. I knew nothing about a sequel, but I feared for the worst from this third episode - well, you would, wouldn't you? Especially when the main character is played by, um, Victor Webster...

Thing is, it's not as bad as all that. It has a couple of names in the cast - Ron Perlman taking the money and running, and Billy Zane performing with his usual understated subtlety, and Dave Bautista before GotG showed him to be an actor with some ability -and it has some production value in terms of location, costume etc.

Which is not to say it's a good film - the story is no great shakes, the acting is unimpressive, the action (of which there is a lot) is OK but not great, and there is a sense of incoherence about it - the influences are oriental and middle eastern, the location is Thailand, Mathayus' buddie is a fat Norseman, and so on.

It's not a complete disaster, but it's definitely a bargain bin job.

The story is really well developed

[Charliesafari333 · 3/10 · 10 December 2021]

Although some of the theatrics are a bit cliche, the movie has a really adventurous and creative storyline. I was very surprised to see the review was low. I have watched this movie more than once and it's one of my favorites.

I SMELL LIKE WARRIOR

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 10 August 2018]

Exotic looking Victor Webster has assumed the title role taking over in a mostly deadpan fashion. The Akkadian king has fallen from grace and is now on a quest from King Horus (Ron Perlman in a minor role) to go after his rival brother Talus (Billy Zane). Talus is on the march against Horus' ally in the eastern kingdom (India) in order to obtain the "Book of the Dead."

Webster is forced to work with the oafish Olaf (Bostin Christopher) from northern Germania. He has a wife Olga and 17 daughters. There are many stereotypes and if I started in on how this film is an anachronistic and historical nightmare, I would be writing a tome after the first 10 minutes. The movie takes on the aspect of a "B" comedy by adapting modern sayings to its age. For instance, a prisoner gets his ear ripped off by Talus who then holds the ear to his mouth and says, "Might you hear me now?"

The movie is dotted with this type of humor.

Dave Bautista plays Argomael the head of the Indian group. They also speak English but with an accent unlike the Akkadians, Egyptians (?), and the frequently belching Olaf. There is a fourth party in this...a person named "Cobra." Krystal Vee, a trained Thai kick boxer, plays the princess who must be rescued. Lex de Groot, who plays a messenger, is also listed as Billy Zane's stunt double, although I couldn't tell when he needed one.

There is a quest within a quest, an oriental harem, a blond Japanese warrior, and ninja style warriors complete with cg ninja action. Billy Zane was excellent as the bad guy. The movie works when it is a "B" comedy. The serious scenes highlight the bad script and acting. Some of the fight scenes had me scratching my head such as when fighters "ride" elephant tusks to propel them 2-3 feet in the air across the span of 5 feet. They had to slow-mo the scene to make it look effective. It might have been better deleted. The movie was intended for a younger audience. If you keep your expectations low, view the movie within its context, and simply want an enjoyable film without it being an epic or requiring a lot of thinking, then this would be a worthwhile teen rental.

No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Use of "P" word. Urination. Krystal Vee showing off leg and midriff. Good movie for Billy Zane fans.

Not as bad as people make it sound, a decent diversion

[crmarkie-784-893409 · 7/10 · 5 September 2013]

OK, this is not Conan and it's not 'really' Scorpion King in anything but name. But having said that, I think other reviewers are being too harsh. I found this movie to be an enjoyable evening's diversion. The action sequences are fun to watch, the acting is decent (if a bit hammy in places), and the story line is pretty good. The settings are richly decorated and the battle scenes look fairly well done. In other words, nothing spectacular here, but certainly not lacking some charm. Billy Zane is evil fun as always, with the glare and voice that exude malevolence. Victor Webster does a decent job as Mathayus, giving him a good blend of humor and sad weariness. Bostin Christopher started off as a bit too buffoonish as Olaf, but grew on me as the movie progressed. And Krystal Vee is a delight as Silda, a role she fills with surprising depth. The film has enough action and plot twists to keep you entertained, just don't be looking for high cinema.

A really good action-packed fantasy adventure

[lukem-52760 · 5/10 · 30 April 2021]

I was very impressed with this DTV fantasy movie!!!!

I checked it out because I'm a huge Ron Perlman fan but i enjoyed the story & fun of the film anyway.

I remember the first "Scorpion King" film with "The Rock" & that was good & i remember "The Mummy Returns" which is the film that introduced The Scorpion King but that film was terrible but the first "The Mummy" is a Classic & the only one i like out of the Mummy franchise & out of the spin-off Scorpion King film series I've seen this one I'm reviewing that is "The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption" as i hasn't seen any of the others but this part 3 was Awesome!!!!

First off Victor Webster makes a decent enough Mathayus aka Scorpion King & has that wise-cracking & fun way about him like Dwayne Johnson did in the first film. I liked Victor & enjoyed his take on the role.

The great Ron Perlman is really good in a decent role as a king who hires Mathayus (who is working as a mercenary for gold) to stop his evil tyrant brother & protect a kingdom from his army. Perlman makes for a cool king & looks the part & feels right at home in these costume-fantasy adventure flicks & is a good character.

Billy Zane is hilarious as the evil tyrant brother of Perlman's good king & is having so much fun with his wild & wacky role & has been this much fun since his fantastic evil leader role as The Collector in 1995's Classic Tales from the Crypt movie: Demon knight.

Also we get a group of evil ancient warriors that The Book of the Dead releases by Billy Zane & we get a part for Dave Bautista who is a huge star now with playing Drax in the "Guardians of the Galaxy films" & he makes for a scary warrior.

We aldo have Temuera Morrison who's kingdom is under attack & also hires Mathayus to help rescue his daughter that has been captured by Zane. Also a big tall "Jack Black" type of slob mercenary named Olaf is teamed up with Mathayus & he's hilarious as well as deadly played by Bostin Christopher.

The cast is really fantastic here & with more recognisable faces.

There's plenty of really great fighting scenes with swords & big battles & even a cool group of Ninjas!!! There's actually alot going on & packed into what is a direct-to-video B-movie but the movie looks so good & directed so well that it doesn't feel cheap or tacky at all!!! Scorpion King 3 is a Gem of a fantasy adventure with comedy & action mixed throughout it's exciting story.