La momia regresa

The success of "The Mummy" in 1999 surprised everyone, and on the day that it opened, Universal Studios greenlit another sequel. The original (the 1999 one) was a lot of fun because it mixed creepy scares with awesome action and goofy humor. The sequel does more or less the same thing, except that the action sequences come pretty much one after another from beginning to end.

Rick (Brendan Fraser) has married his love from the first film, Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), and the have a son, Alex (Freddy Boath). After finding the bracelet of the mythical Scorpion King, they're attacked by villains who are intent on raising Imhotep from the dead (again) so he can kill the Scorpion King and take over the world. Of course, it's up to Rick and Evelyn to stop them.

All the characters from the first film in the franchise are back, and they slide into their parts easily. Arnold Vosloo gets to do more with his character, and Patricia Velasquez (who has about 10 times as much screen time as she did in the first film) has a lot of fun acting like Jennifer Lopez's alter-ego. There are a few new characters as well, including young Freddie Boath, who is excellent as Alex. His screen appeal rivals Macauley Culkin at his best. Shaun Parkes is a much better source of comic relief than Kevin J. O'Connor (he's consistently funny, and the dialogue between him and Rick or Jonathan is hilarious). Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is suitably creepy as a new villain and Alun Armstrong is suitably kooky as the ringleader.

Stephen Sommers knows how to create an action movie. He creates real characters, not actors who are given different names, and sends them into action scene after action scene. It's a fun and exciting flick, and that's all it tries to be.

If you've seen the trailer for this movie, you're probably expecting fast paced adventure, non-stop action and a special effects extravaganza with just enough story to keep it all interesting. And if that's what you're hoping for, you certainly won't be disappointed; because that's exactly what you get in `The Mummy Returns,' written and directed by Stephen Sommers. The story begins in Egypt, where Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife, Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) discover an ancient bracelet that had once belonged to a warrior known as `The Scorpion King (The Rock),' who, back in the day, had sold his soul to the god, Anubis, for control of his armies and domination of the world. Now, it seems, The Scorpion King's resurrection is imminent, and if he succeeds and once again raises the armies of Anubis, he could very well take over or destroy the world. Followers of Im-Ho-Tep (Arnold Vosloo), however, who are privy to this information as well, decide to resurrect their dark leader so that he can face The Scorpion King, defeat him, take control of Anubis' armies and conquer the world himself, putting them in control. But the key to the whole plan lies with who has control of the bracelet at the time of The Scorpion King's resurrection. And the O'Connells have taken it back home with them to London.

So the adventure begins in earnest, moving from Egypt to London, then back again to Egypt. Along the way, there's plenty of mummies, fighting, and bugs, but very few surprises, except for one scene near the end when something quite unexpected happens. The story itself gets somewhat lost in the muddle, but it doesn't really matter; plot is fairly insignificant in a movie like this, as long as it maintains at least a thread of credibility and can give the action some context. And that it does, so all is well and it allows you to get on with what this movie is really all about, which-- simply put-- is having a good time.

With shades of `Indiana Jones' and `Star Wars' abounding, the real success of this movie lies in the fact that it never pretends to be anything other than what it is or what it was meant to be, and that is an entertaining, fun movie. It's visually explosive, from the sweeping, desert vistas of the converging, battling armies, to the mummies and assorted demons and creatures generously sprinkled throughout. And the hand-to-hand combat scenes between Evelyn and Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velazquez) are especially thrilling. The one element of the film that doesn't seem to work too well has to do with a particular mode of transportation to which the O'Connells must resort upon their return to Egypt, and which ultimately plays a significant part in the outcome of the whole adventure. It's something that seemingly would have been more appropriate in `The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' or `Peter Pan.'

As far as the performances, suffice to say that the actors involved all do their jobs well; after all, in a movie like this you're not going to find anyone struggling with `The Method.' Fraser strikes a handsome, heroic pose-- call him a poor man's Indiana Jones-- and Weisz is becoming as Evelyn. Most importantly, they all walk the walk and talk the talk, and Sommers keeps them on track and wisely avoids allowing any lapses into `camp' or tongue-in-cheek character interpretations, which makes this a solid, fun-filled, action-adventure movie that is what it is.

The supporting cast includes John Hannah (providing some comic relief as Jonathan Carnahan), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lock Nah), Freddie Boath (Alex O'Connell) and Obed Fehr (Ardeth Bay). As with most sequels, you'll get more out of `The Mummy Returns' if you've seen the original, which had more of a story and, of course, would give you the background of the characters. But even on it's own and taken at face value, this movie is a feast for the senses, and just a lot of good fun. Just don't go in expecting anything more than what the trailer promises; if you can do that, chances are you're going to enjoy the movie and have a good time. I rate this one 7/10.

The Mummy Returns is maybe a step above the first one. The action is non-stop, and it does manage, for the most part, to rouse the audience, or at least me. The good guys are likable. Brendan Fraser is where he belongs. Rachel Weisz is beautiful. John Hannah amuses as Jonathan, and Freddie Boath manages not to annoy as Alex, the kid. He's pretty good as a smart-mouthed brat. The bad guys are, for the most part, fun to hate. Im-Ho-Tep is a good villain. Maybe he isn't given enough to do here, but he's still cool. Patricia Valazquez is a real stunner as his love interst, Anck-Su-Namun. She's probably the best thing about the film. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was good as Lock Nah, the main henchman. Perhaps the weakest part of the film is the Rock as the Scorpion King. The narration during the film's prologue is not nearly as good as it would be if we were watching the story develop. The Scorpion King is basically a boring character. His computer-animated doppleganger at the film's climax is neat, but it would have been better if there were some feelings towards that character.

People who know their action flicks will notice that the Mummy Returns steals about every action scene from every action movie made in the past 20 years, quoting movies like Aliens, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park 2 (why? that movie was terrible), and especially Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, with which, if you remember, The Mummy I was competing with in the box office successfully in May of 1999. They don't try to hide any of it. They even make a jest at Spielberg with a shadow against the moon from ET and Amblin Entertainment. It's all in good fun. You shouldn't be too angry at the sloppy script. If you are going to be angry, the shoddy computer animation should be your target. Still, it's not bad.

Most people compare this sequel to the first movie 'The Mummy', which is a good thing of course, but I haven't seen the first one, so no comparisons from me.

So what can I tell you? Well, the movie isn't as bad as I expected. It's all to clear that the director's first thought wasn't about the script but about the many special effects, but i still quite liked the movie. What made this movie work for me was the humor. Normally this kind of movies takes itself much too serious, there is no place for any joke or funny situation at all. In The Mummy Returns this is different.

Thanks to the humor, this movie was very enjoyable, but it is of course the many special effects that make this movie what it is. Don't expect anything real: a mummy coming to life, sucking the life out of people, armies of mythological creatures... will of course never exist in reality, but it certainly was nice to see.

I guess it is best to qualify this movie as some excellent way to pass some boring hours on a cold and rainy afternoon. It's certainly not an intellectual movie, but I didn't mind about that when watching it. I give it a 6,5/10.

Both the original and this are great fun and completely likable. Of course the sequel does have flaws, the plot isn't quite as strong as the one in the original, the scorpion king was a bit of a disappointment(he could've been designed better) and again like the original it is overlong. But it does have a sense of unpretentious fun, and that is great to see. The visuals are very impressive, and the music score, this time by Alan Silvestri is very effective, though I do prefer the Goldsmith. Although he isn't given as much to do, Arnold Vosloo still impresses as Imhotep, who I admit I did find scary in the original, not so much here, but Vosloo's performance is great. The other performances are fine too, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are both charming in the lead roles, and Patricia Velasquez is just beautiful beyond words as Meela Nais/Arnk Su Namun. Plus Freddie Boath is perfectly tolerable as Alexander, and John Hannah is fine too, same with Allun Armstrong of all people. All in all, a fun sequel, that shows that more of the same can actually work. The only other sequel that I have seen that is more of the same yet lives up exactly to the standard of its original is Home Alone 2:Lost in New York. 7/10 for Mummy Returns. Bethany Cox