Scorpion King (2002)

Composed by John Debney

2002 saw the release of WWF (soon to be WWE) wrestler the Rock’s first starring role. Eventually he would use his real name Dwayne Johnson in an attempt to cement his identity as an actor rather than professional wrestler. The Scorpion King is a sword-and-sorcery spin-off of the Mummy films. Thousands of years in the past an eastern horde under Memnon steamrolls through the ancient world, winning battle after battle thanks to the help of a powerful, clairvoyant sorcerer. Mathyus, the titular character, is a mercenary of an almost-dead ethnicity noted for their incredible martial prowess. He’s hired to find and kill the sorcerer (revealed to be a woman named Cassandra and played by Kelly Hu). It’s not a great film, but it’s a fun way to kill a couple hours. The Rock was still an active professional wrestler at the time so the movie plays into him as a beefy action hero. In fact composer John Debney would incorporate the style of the WWF’s entrance themes in a couple of his cues.

Debney blends rock with bombastic ancient adventure styling, and surprisingly with no disjointed effect. In its “subtler” moments the rock appears as a percussive drumline underneath wailing trumpets, but it can also overtake the entire score, such as in the opener “Boo!.” Despite the ancient setting on-screen, the blasting guitars seem appropriate when paired with a still-young Dwayne Johnson. Personally I prefer the more straightforward orchestral sections, which do become dominant by the halfway point. This material is what’s expected: epic horns, woman wailing, and ethnic percussion. The rock-heavy cues are mostly placed in the first act of the film, when Mathyus hasn’t acquired his more noble motivations and audiences are still processing the presence of the Rock in a Hollywood film.