Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018)
1h 42m | PG-13
The Scorpion King teams up with a female warrior named Tala, who is the sister of The Nubian King. 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.
Director: Don Michael Paul
Studio: Universal 1440 Entertainment
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Video: 720p
Cast
Zach McGowan
as Mathayus
Peter Mensah
as Nebserek
Pearl Thusi
as Tala
Mayling Ng
as Khensa
Katy Louise Saunders
as Amina
Inge Beckmann
as Mennofer
Reviews
Mathayus the Scorpion King, a character now played by an American Samoan, a Filipino German, a French Canadian, and a Jewish American (and seemingly getting smaller with each incarnation) is a ruler supposedly from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Now I was never one to **demand** the nationality of the actor match that of the character (particularly one from so long ago that there is no way to be 100% certain exactly how said character may have looked). But it might be an idea to lock down a rough appearance to hold consistent throughout **your own franchise**. _Book of Souls_ purports to be the final entry in this very loose series of _The Mummy Returns_ spinoffs. If they had continued in the vain of the third entry, that's something I might be sad about, alas, these last two entries have decided to once again take the absurd _Scorpion King_ premise seriously (_Book of Souls_ admittedly less so, but still far too much to really get into). Pretty cool ending credits animation though. _Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._
<em>'The Scorpion King: Book of Souls'</em> is, surprisingly, almost good. Well, that's what I think anyway - the average rating says otherwise! The story is what lets it down, because it is underwhelming, but I the cast and characters are ones I didn't mind watching. Zach McGowan makes for the fourth actor to appear as the titular character, he isn't no worse than those that have preceded him; I prefer him to Victor Webster, even if I warmed to the latter due to his double appearance in the series. McGowan and Pearl Thusi work as a two. Katy Louise Saunders is decent too, while Enkidu (played by Nathan Jones) is honestly impressive for a flick of this level - great make-up and effects, even if the character is clearly superhero movie inspired. I will say that the antagonists aren't as positive as the the aforementioned, but are still fine. There is also a good end credits song, which I appreciate. It seems the majority rank this with the other sequels, for me though it is the best - if still not actually good - since the Dwayne Johnson original. Speaking of The Rock, he is reportedly behind an upcoming reboot of this series - it'll be interesting to see how that turns out.