The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior

"See how the legend of The Scorpion King began!"

2008 1h 49m EN

💀

4.7

SKIP

⭐

3.8

IMDB

★4.7TMDB · 642★3.8IMDB · 13,125

ActionAdventureFantasy

Synopsis

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The heroic tale of young Mathayus and his relentless quest for justice against an evil and powerful villain, King Sargon. Mathayus faces heart-stopping tribulations during his adventurous, odds-defying trajectory toward his ultimate destiny: becoming the formidable warrior king of an ancient desert empire.

“See how the legend of The Scorpion King began!”

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Cast

Michael Copon
Mathayus
Randy Couture
Sargon
Karen David
Layla (as Karen David)
Simon Quarterman
Ari
Tom Wu
Fong
Andreas Wisniewski
Pollux
Natalie Becker
Astarte
Jeremy Crutchley
Baldo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Russell Mulcahy
Writers: Randall McCormick
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America, South Africa, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United States of America, South Africa, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Scorpion King Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Russell Mulcahy, shot by Glynn Speeckaert. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Gilbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Copon and Randy Couture and Karen David carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "See how the legend of The Scorpion King began!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Russell Mulcahy directs. Glynn Speeckaert behind the camera. John Gilbert cuts. Produced in United States of America, South Africa, Germany. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 18 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3International production across 3 countries: United States of America, South Africa, Germany.
4Part of the "The Scorpion King Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Russell Mulcahy, shot by Glynn Speeckaert. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor John Gilbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Copon and Randy Couture and Karen David carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "See how the legend of The Scorpion King began!".
9IMDB entry: tt1104123 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 23 themes, including "magic", "affectation", "mercenary", "training".
11Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Glynn Speeckaert
Editing: John Gilbert
Production design: Tom Hannam
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008)
IMDB rating: 3.8/10 · 13,125 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Part of

The Scorpion King Collection

The Scorpion King collection is a spin-off to The Mummy Returns and follows the story of Mathayus and his rise to become the Scorpion King. The franchise began with the 2002 film The Scorpion King, directed by Chuck Russell and starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan.

Also by

Russell Mulcahy

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2017-06-27
★ 2/10
A lower point than even Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Made exactly one smart decision in its entire 109 minute runtime, and it was a financial one. Final rating:★ - Of no value.
r96sk2025-02-19
★ 6/10
<em>'The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior'</em> kept me interested for longer than I thought it would, though in the end it is a film to forget. For what it is, a low-budget and low-quality flick, it isn't absolutely terrible, at least not in my opinion. It's cheesy and illogical, yet almost entertains. Michael Copon is a decent choice for his role, as are Karen David (Grace Mukherjee to me), Randy Couture and Simon Quarterman. None of them show off any standout acting and I likely won't remember them from this, but they do help stop the 109 minutes from hitting the rocks. Overall, I didn't like this one. It didn't overly bother me either, though.
CinemaSerf2025-12-24
★ 5/10
If you are expecting anything even vaguely connected to the “Mummy” films, or it’s “Scorpion King" spawn, then you’re in for a disappointment. Actually, you are probably in for one of those anyway as this flails along for just shy of two hours. I like my mythology; I like my winged beasties and nasty tyrannical kings and here I found myself on their side without fail as the violently orphaned “Mathayus” (Michael Copon) has to thwart the evil king “Sargon” (Randy Couture) by visiting the realm of Hades and fetching a magical sword. Fortunately, he has the help of his feisty childhood friend “Layla” (Karen David) and, for me at any rate, the star of the film in “Ari” (Simon Quarterman) who at least appeared to understand just how rotten this script was. We have everything from a labyrinthine monster to a sultry underworld goddess called “Astarte” (Natalie Becker) but it is all two-dimensional stuff with acting talent that proves every inch the perfect match for the banality of the dialogue. Just how anyone could take such a rich vein of mythology and turn it into this daytime television nonsense is anyone’s guess, but restricting your casting choices to eye-candy might be an obvious place to start. In many ways it reminded me of an edition of the “Hercules” television series, only without any charisma. There is a scorpion, of sorts, at the end - but by that point I was volunteering for it to sting me instead.