Universal Pictures was so high on his 15 minutes of screen time in "The Mummy Returns" that they signed WWF star The Rock to do this "prequel" before the film even openend. Did the studio get their money's worth?

The film reminds me so much of a funnier version of "Conan the Barbarian," with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson a much more relaxed actor then Arnold Schwarzenegger was at that period of his career. The story opens with an early preview of the entire film. A well-paced action sequence with a couple of good one-liners. After his brother is killed, the Archadian Matthias swears his revenge. About to be killed by his sworn enemy, Memnon, Matthias is spared when the sorceress who guides Memnon tells him to do so would be VERY BAD.

Following a near-fatal meeting with a nasty group of fire ants, Matthias sets out on his course of revenge, with a horse thief he has befriended to assist him. One adventure after another follows, with everything from sand storms to a stunt lifted directly from the opening of "Indianna Jones and the Temple of Doom" in between. Does Matthias get his revenge? If you don't know the answer to that then you surely can't smell what the Rock is cooking. And he does it all with just one eye brow lift and not once does he use "the People's Elbow" on an enemy.

While the action sequences, conceived by director Russell (The Mask, Eraser) are noteworthy, it is The Rock who stands out. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to be a professional wrestler, where the name of the game is entertainment. The Rock makes a much better first screen impression then any wrestler since Hulk Hogan in "Rocky 3." He seems to know why he's there and he certainly has fun with the role. I'm not sure if this role can turn into something big, but I would certainly go see his next picture just to see what he's achieved.

As the first possilbe summer blockbuster of the year, I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a movie to kill a few hours in an air-conditioned theatre. I give it 3 stars out of 4!