DVD review (region 1)
Directed by Russell Mulcahy
Starring Randy Couture, Andreas Wisniewski, Tom Wu, Karen Shenaz David, Michael Copon
Release date Out now

The adventures of Mathayus as a youth, long before he became the Scorpion King...

Timed to coincide with the third film in the Mummy series, this straight-to-DVD adventure is nowhere near as bad as it could have been, and indeed is a step up from the theatrical film about the character.

It also fits better within the revived Mummy franchise than The Scorpion King did. In Rise of a Warrior, there are ghosts, the Minotaur, the undead and even a giant scorpion along the way. In what most charitably can be described as a homage to the absolutely horrible CGI at the end of The Mummy Returns in which The Scorpion King made his debut, the computer generated scorpion that Mathayus faces at the climax of this film is appalling, and would disgrace even the recent low budget Scooby Doo animation.

There's an annoying girl-power female lead, and the requisite smart alec Brit is present (playing a Greek), but overall this maintains the audience's interest in a sword and sorcery tale that doesn't stretch the imagination or the budget.

The extras aren't bad for a straight-to-DVD movie, with some decent behind-the-scenes material and deleted scenes, one of which should never have been excised! Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 7/10
A diverting time-passer.