The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power

Colin Jacobson started his review by saying, “When 2015’s The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power showed up on my door, I had two reactions. First I thought “There was a Scorpion King 2?” And then I thought “There was a Scorpion King 3?””

Jacobson continued, “Given that 2002’s Scorpion King - itself a spin-off from 2001’s Mummy Returns - didn’t do all that well at the box office, I think it makes sense that I feel surprised it churned out any sequels, much less a series that continues 12 years after the original’s release. But the world of direct-to-video projects opens up many “franchise” possibilities, as the combination of name value and low budgets makes these flicks profitable, I guess.”

In “The Scorpion King 4,” we meet up again with Mathayus, reprised by Victor Webster, known as “The Scorpion King.” After he steals a powerful urn, Mathayus finds himself betrayed by his partner, Drazen, played by Will Kemp.

King Zakour, played by Rutger Hauer, tells Mathayus that Drazen wasn’t just a thief – he was also a spy for the Norvania kingdom. While Mathayus wants revenge, Zakour orders him to ask for peace.

Mathayus travels on this journey unwillingly. He’s more of a murderer than a compromiser. Things take a turn for the from there. Drazen murders his father, King Yannick, played by Michael Biehn, and blames Mathayus for the crime. Along with the beautiful new ally Valina, played by Ellen Hollman, the Scorpion King goes to clear his name and make things right.

Jacobson admitted, “Although I didn’t care for the original Scorpion King, I didn’t rule out hopes that Quest would offer entertainment value. After all, I liked the first two Mummy flicks and since it comes from a related universe, I thought it might come with some basic fun and adventure.”

Unfortunately, there’s no fun, adventure, or any other type of entertainment, simple or otherwise. A cheap, sorry sequel, “The Scorpion King 4” feels like a novice attempt to make some money, that to being direct-to-video.

Jacobson said, “I barely know where to start. I’d like to find something good to say about Quest, but other than Hollman’s beauty – and the attractive appeal of supporting actors like Esme Bianco - I can’t locate anything positive to discuss here. If the film possesses any non-babe-related redeeming values, it hides them far beneath the surface.”

Instead, it gives everyone a movie that fails on every level. The story seems unconnected and illogical, without anything to make it fascinating. The story exists to motivate action and jokes. None of the characters or plot elements become even vaguely interesting.

Jacobson thinks, “Perhaps if the gags and/or action succeeded at a basic level, I wouldn’t mind the lack of a good story. Unfortunately, the comedy seems idiotic at best, and the action feels generic and bland. No excitement materializes from the set pieces; they pop up because we expect them to appear but they can’t deliver any fun.”

None of the actors do anything with the material. Hollman looks nice but overplays her part, and Webster gives a little more than an average impression of The Rock, the original person to play Mathayus.

“The Scorpion King 4” has a few minor actors like Hauer, Biehn, and Barry Bostwick. The first two look very wooden, like they feel embarrassed to be in this film, while Bostwick camps it up. Jacobson was nice to say, “I hope these guys made some decent paychecks.”

On top of that, there are poor effects and lackluster production values, and “The Scorpion King 4” ends up a complete failure. The movie doesn’t even have its own ending because it looks like it is copying “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Jacobson ended his review by saying, “Even with low expectations, I find nothing worthwhile about the film.”

As you might have guessed, this film has sank the franchise to an unbelievable low. This film is so awful that it is not even worth watching. What’s sad is that famous YouTuber, Brandon Hardesty, is in here, and they give him such bad direction. You should see this channel, he was known for reenacting scenes from movies and he did a good job every time, even though he didn’t always did a perfect impression of the actor. I saw this film on Amazon Prime and I regret it. If you see this there or anywhere, don’t watch it because you will regret ever streaming this direct-to-video garbage.

Next week we will thankfully finish off “The Scorpion King Month” with the last sequel they did, which really killed off the franchise.