Movie Info
Movie Name: The Mummy Returns
Studio: Alphaville Films
Genre(s): Action/Adventure/Horror/Comedy
Release Date(s): May 4, 2001
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Suck face!
Evelyn and Rick O’Connell (Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser) have uncovered the Bracelet of Anubis, and their son Alex (Freddie Boath) has accidentally accessed the location to the oasis where the Scorpion King’s army is housed. Unfortunately Alex and his parents have seven days to find the oasis, or the Bracelet of Anubis will kill Alex. Things have been further complicated by the resurrection of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) by the reincarnation of his lover Meela Nais (Patricia Velásquez), and Imhotep and Meela who hope to take the Scorpion King’s army for themselves. Now, it is a race against time to find the oasis, but the resurrection of Anubis’ army means the return of the Mathayus…the Scorpion King (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson).
Mortal Kombat!!!
Directed by Stephen Sommers, The Mummy Returns is a follow-up to the popular and financially successful The Mummy from 1997. The film had strong box office returns but generally was reviewed weaker to the original. It also did spawn a game for the Playstation 2 and other merchandise.
I wasn’t a huge fan of The Mummy, but weirdly enough, I kind of liked the sequel just a bit better. The reason is that The Mummy was pretty pretentious…it thought it was something it wasn’t. It thought it was a swashbuckling, fun adventure along the lines of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it missed the humor and charm it needed. Here, it feels like the writers gave up a bit, but in giving up, it doesn’t feel like it is trying as hard.
I would have preferred these to the Scorpion King
The movie’s script is maybe the biggest problem with the film. It is way, way too long. It also feels like it has to have a chase or something happening every second. If they had taken out a few of the sequences and dropped a chase or two, this would be a pretty solid film. I like some of the basic concept of the story with two warring factions (Rick and Imhotep) and the fight to take control of a third (the Scorpion King), and I like the origin stuff which involves flashbacks to ancient Egypt.
The acting is still so-so. The characters definitely aren’t as developed as in the first film, but Brendan Fraser and some of the supporting cast aren’t the strongest actors so I don’t really want a lot of “acting” from them. Rachel Weisz still doesn’t demonstrate the acting skills she later shows in some of her performances and doesn’t appear entirely comfortable in the humor role. The Rock made his big screen debut as the Scorpion King, and it really started a chain of films for the actor and helped make him an action star.
The PS2 called and it wants its graphics back…
The special effects are quite terrible at points. The mummies are ok and some of the imagery surrounding Imhotep isn’t bad, but it is rehash of special effects of the first film. The best creatures might be the pygmy monsters which almost resemble the killer doll from the classic Trilogy of Terror. The Scorpion King’s animation in the final sequence is awful…and time hasn’t been kind to it (and it did not really look good even then). If you check it out now, it looks like bad video game animation…I expected more.
The Mummy Returns in my opinion a slightly better version of The Mummy, but it still has problems. I don’t enjoy the humor or the characters of the series, but fortunately, the movie is a bit toned down on both of them. The movie spawned both The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon’s Tomb in 2008 and the Rock spin-off film The Scorpion King in 2002.
Related Links:
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
