Scorpion King: Das Buch der Seelen

So this afternoon the recent abominable reboot of Conan the Barbarian was on broadcast tv, so, against my better judgement, I watched some of it. Every bit as terrible as I remembered. I love the Milius Conan, of course, even though it's about different guy named Conan, apparently. So I ran across this thing on Netflix, and I thought can't be worse that what I just saw, so why not? And what a pleasant surprise! A perfectly serviceable sword&sandals&sorcery film! Obvious these people love the Schwartz Conan, several sly references. Handsome production, good art direction, far better than the recent Conan, better fight choreography. In fact, pretty much a Conan adventure, with a different lead.

Spectacular Sword and Witchery film , following the adventures of the known King Scorpion, since his rise to power developed in Scorpion King I¨ by Stephen Sommers . Mathayus' (Zach McGowan ) kingdom has fallen , and , today , he's a simple blacksmith . As Mathayus becomes a drifter to find The Book of the dead , while warriors with incredible power suddenly appear to defeat him . In ancient Egypt, the mighty warlord, Nebserek (Peter Mensah) , a nasty tyrant who has convoked dark forces, steals the fabled Fang of Anubis- a cursed sword imbued with the power of hell and the strength of its countless victims- intent on creating his evil empire. As the ruthless monarch burns down to the ground a small village , the wounded Akkadian mercenary, Mathayus , joins forces with the Nubian princess, Tala (Pearl Thusi) , to embark on a long and risked quest to find the mystical Book of Souls : the only thing that can put an end to Nebserek's tyranny. Along the way , Scorping King meets Amina (Katy Louise Saunders) who holds a dark secret . Together they search for a legendary relic known as The Book of Souls, which will allow them to put an end to an evil warlord. Will the legendary Scorpion King bring hope and restore peace? Talus who kidnapped her. New quest, new villains, one legend - the Scorpion King returns !.

Thrilling and fantasy movie with lots of action , fights , adventures and swordplay . Here Mathays/Zach McGowan must face off some fantastic enemies and tyrants for the chance to regain the glory and power he once knew , this time the Scorpion King teams up with a female warrior named Tala, who is the sister of The Nubian King. This acceptable 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 strength themselves , as well as showing muscles and courage , while women are all scantly clad. This one has a better cast than the second outing that were unknown actors , here stands out nice and charming actors . Stars Zach McGowan as the hero who has to find the Book of Souls from the claws of the feared Nebserek , Peter Mensah ,Mayling Ng , Nathan Jones , Howard Charles, and Pearl Thusi ; furthermore , a young gorgeous newcomer : Katy Saunders who steals the show.

The motion picture was professional, though with no originality , directed by Don Michael Paul . He is a good American filmmaker who has directed some decent films , and with success enough . This craftsman filmmaker has directed a number of films and many of them are sequels . Don Michael Paul has directed all kinds of genres with penchant for action movies . He has shot remakes and sequels , such as : Death Race: Beyond Anarchy (2018) in which Zach McGowan and director Don Michael Paul also worked together in. Don is a secondary actor and an occassional professional director. He is a craftsman who has directed a few films , such as : Jarhead 2, Sniper Legacy, Lake Placid : Final chapter, Death race : Beyond anarchy, Bulletproof 2, Kindergaten cops 2, Who is your caddy?, The garden, 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 .

It does have a slow pace, but the fight scenes are well choreographed. I think the writing had it's moments, but was not much dialogue. Direction was slow, and the scenes were choppy for a quest oriented film.

The acting was moderate to ok Pearl Thusi did a great job of carrying the film. Graphically not bad at all, and the camera work was very well done. I don't think I would watch it again, but was entertaining.

To be honest, this production could have only just held its head above the B. Luckily its head is safe, despite a low budget. Brilliant casting, with stars from Black Sails and Spartacus continuing in similar sword-fighting roles. Plenty of muscle, beautiful strong and magical women, flying in the air fights and a really crazy huge original offsider (possibly a stand out here). The plot was faithful to the genre and the franchise. Not too many effects but tastefully done (this is not Gods of Egypt). This is probably the best Scorpion I've seen, great for teenagers (though there is quite a lot of killing though not much blood), or fantastic for a Saturday arvo lazy if you are into fantasy.

The Stephen Sommers Mummy franchise, for all intents and purpose, is dead. There hasn't been a decent installment since 2008's Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and the direct-to-video sequels to it's Scorpion King spin-off have been nothing short of terrible and unnecessary.

Yet, I'll concur that Book of Souls is an improvement over the last two Scorpion King sequels in terms of plot and cinematography, capturing the feel of The Mummy films. But not enough to revive long-term interest in a franchise that has since been relegated to the DTV ghetto. Especially when these films shuffle lead actors like it shuffles cards.