The Mummy Returns

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.

On my day off from work today, I decided to pop in the Mummy Returns for something fun to watch. I hadn't seen it since it was released for homeviewing, so it's been about a year or two. I must say that this movie takes my breath away each time I see it. The Mummy Returns is a roller coaster ride which barely stops during the entire 2+ hours! I love the CGI effects, and how lavish the scenery looks. The movie made me feel as though I was witnessing Ancient Egypt and and the 1930's era in person. So what if things look 'cartoony' during the battling sequences! I think that the battle sequences in Two Towers looked just as much the same. I find that with many fans nowadays, they take things way too seriously. If a movie or TV series is not what they hope for, then they blast it all to hell just because they are whining babies. Take for instance Star Trek Nemesis. That was another really good movie, yet the so called 'fans' ripped it apart piece by piece and then fed it to the dogs. I just wish that the babies would enjoy the movies instead of complaining that a movie isn't good quality. If thats the case they should just go back to their rooms and watch Fargo or the English Patient! Both the Mummy and the Mummy Returns rock as far as action movies go. Get a huge bag of chips a large bottle of pop, sit down with your girlfriend and enjoy two great movies!! Excellent fun!!

When The Mummy hit theatres in 1999, critics everywhere panned it as being a poor man's Indiana Jones. While the two movies are about as similar as Dr. No is to GoldenEye (thankfully), I suppose comparisons between one non-stop adventure film and other are inevitable. In the end, what really counts when determining a film's quality is the level to which it can entertain. And if there is one thing The Mummy did well, it was entertain. Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo were very well chosen for their roles.

The Mummy Returns is easy to see as being another sequel churned out to satiate the greedy money-machine that Hollywood has become, but it has a few things working for it. One thing that is immediately obvious is that the sequel was very much intended to be a film that could be enjoyed without ever having seen the original. The only references to the previous film are done to fill in the narrative gaps about who Imhotep is, and why he is the way he is. The addition of The Scorpion King was an interesting effort to give the film a new antagonist, but the lack of screentime didn't work well in this tangent's favour. Another tangent that could have been better developed was the rivalry between Imhotep's girlfriend and whatever her name was. Imhotep originally mistook Rachel Weisz's character for being his girlfriend reincarnated, so the use of a woman who looks exactly like her while creating this new tangent needed to be developed differently.

Most people won't give a damn about complex story tangents and will want to know if this film is entertaining. And it is entertaining, alright. There is barely a dull moment in the film's substantial running length, and Oded Fehr does a bang-up job of providing a Mad-Max-cum-Indiana-Jones hero. I want to know where they get those groovy costumes and tattoos from, they look quite nice. Anyway, when all is said and done, this is an eight out of ten film. A few badly constructed story details here and there, but some extremely entertaining action sequences make up for them. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. This is matinee-style material at its (almost) best. Get the DVD when it comes out, it will at least tide you over until George Lucas gets his head out of his proverbial and realises that the VHS era is well and truly over.

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.

Rick and Evelyn now married with a son, find themselves amidst the second coming of Imhotep. After their Son Alex is kidnapped by Imhotep as he seeks the Scorpion King (The Rock) Rick and Evelyn must pursue their sons capture, with the aid of the clues Alex leaves along the way.

Aside from some unusual revelations in Evelyn and Ricks past, the movie concentrates mainly on the action this time out and runs a little short on story.

I Liked the evolution of Evey's character, now she's hardened up she makes a mean adversary, and takes part in some good battles.

All in all, i enjoyed the experience and once again the Visuals were more than adequate.

If you enjoyed the first, then watch this one, its good fun and has some fine moments.

7/10