A prequel to a sequel of a remake.

The Movie: The Scorpion King, directed by Chuck Russell
Recommendation: Me!
Reason: It was pretty much a random pick.

So for those who are playing along at home, The Scorpion King is the prequel to The Mummy Returns (in which the Scorpion king is originally introduced, and some sort of horrid CGI abomination is wrought upon the world). The Mummy Returns is the sequel to The Mummy. The Mummy is a remake of The Mummy. Confusing enough for you? Good. The Scorpion King took a character that was vaguely interesting in his initial appearance and centered an entire movie around him. It also cut the crappy CGI and really changed the character.

In The Mummy Returns, Mathayas the Acadian is The Scorpion King, master of a horde of hideous jackal-faced beasts who ravage and destroy everything in their path. He is the evil that the heroes are struggling valiantly to stop. Interestingly, in the movie that centers around him, he is the hero, fighting to destroy a tyrant and despot. When I first saw this movie, I initially believed it was to be set at the peak of The Scorpion King's reign. Instead, it was set at the start. I think that was an interesting decision. If only it could have been followed by at least one more movie dedicated to the fall of the Scorpion King's idealistic youth, the decay of his mighty empire and possibly his descent into supervillainous madness.

The Scorpion King's main function was to get The Rock some film cred. His role in The Mummy Returns and the prequel were very important in launching his career. He's since become a surprisingly good action star, able to carry a movie at the very least. He has a good amount of charisma about himself. It's very refreshing.

-163/365 down, 202/365 to go