The Mummy Returns Visual Effects Artist Explains Why The Scorpion King Looked So Bad

The Mummy Returns visual effects artist John Berton Jr recently opened up about why the Scorpion King looked so botched.

When it comes to patchy CGI work, a few movies instantly come to mind, but The Mummy sequel is definitely up there.

Berton recently spoke of how one day he fell down the rabbit hole of Google and came across a list of the worst visual effects in history, only to find Scorpion King on there.

While speaking on the VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGI series, Berton reflected on why his work was such a colossal failure.

He said: "This isn’t really an excuse, but it’s an explanation of the way things work in movies sometimes.

"We asked for that of course, we needed a day with Dwayne Johnson to photograph his face and eye detail and all the stuff you would do. 

“Because he was busy with his incredible WWE career that was not possible.

"We had him for like three days maybe in Morocco to shoot his scenes.”

That definitely tells us why Scorpion King looked more like a melted wax figure than a terrifying Akkadian warrior.

The graphics animator and visual effects supervisor also recalled the pressure of working on a high-budget movie.

Berton said: “I think if you had all that stuff, the animation would work better because it’s meant to be a little cartoony here and I think that informed our decisions about whether or not the shots were done and ready for the movie was that there was an expectation at the time of this needing to reach a certain level.”

Universal Pictures

Following the film's release, the visual effects artist said he had to overcome the 'butthurtedness' of it all.

However, despite his shortcomings, Berton, along with his colleagues Daniel Jeannette, Neil Corbould and Thomas Rossete, was nominated for a Saturn Award for ‘Best Visual Effects’ in 2001.

Not only that, but the film grossed over $435 million (AUD $625m or £360m) worldwide.

The film also spawned the sequel The Scorpion King, which made a jaw-dropping $185 million ($266m or £153), and helped launched Dwayne Johnson's Hollywood career.

So, you know, it’s not all bad.