FILMS WITH wrestlers at the top of the bill haven't had much luck in the past: Hulk Hogan flexing his muscles in Suburban Commando and Mr Nanny was not what you would call fine art, so the thought of Universal Pictures spending 70 million dollars on a film starring The Rock is quite scary.

The Rock plays an assassin in ancient Egypt who has to kill a sorcerer helping an evil warlord called Memnon.

When he teams up with his brother the mission goes wrong and Menmon kills his sibling.

The Rock as The Scorpion King then sets off to avenge his brother's death, only to fall in love with the sorcerer when he discovers she's a woman.

The film is a prequel to The Mummy Returns so things look brighter. Unfortunately, Steven Sommers has written probably one of the most tacky and clichd scripts of all time.

I wasn't exactly expecting the script to be good anyway with the previous efforts of the two Mummy films. But cheesy dialogue worked really well there, while here it goes beyond the joke unless you're 13.

From Grant Heslov's daft companion to foes becoming friends, the film is riddled with clichs and you must feel sorry for director Chuck Russell at times.

He directs the action scenes so well but it looks as if his hands were tied when having to deal with the script. From the very first scene you can tell how corny the rest of the film is going to be, and it's a shame because it shows potential but has ended up as an excuse to sell action figures to little kids.

The Rock shows dedication in the action scenes as he stands tall against the rest but he struggles with dialogue when the action calms down.

In his defence the script is so bad that even the likes of Kevin Spacey would probably struggle.

Cool slow motion shots and spectacular special effects make amends in the final scenes, but when the film has pacing problems and poor acting (what is Michael Clarke Duncan doing in this?), the Golden Razzies may not have to look any further next year.

Steven Summers has now become Hollywood's whip-ping boy, The Rock looks like a bloated fool at times and the charisma of The Mummy has now been ruined.