The Mummy Returns

I remember the buzz when this sequel came out but for some, it failed to deliver. I can see why but I still have fun watching "The Mummy Returns". Half of the new characters did not work and the special effects had some problems but the action and one-liners were just as fun as those in the original film.

Actor Oded Fehr is amazing with narration. As with the first film, his character tells the story of the Scorpion King to begin the film. The O'Connell family is introduced nicely and I must admit that I have trouble not envying their house in London. If I'm not mistaken, Rick is dressed like Indiana Jones when he gets home to London. The first Mummy film taps into the kind of fun we have watching the Indy franchise so I guess an obvious reference was due. The car ride to the museum spells out the premise of the movie quite well. I feel the best parts of the movie are the scenes in London, especially the action scene on the bus. As Rick says "Just like old times, huh?" I also love it when Rick catches the knife thrown at him and returns it. The majority of the plot has a pattern: Rick rescues a family member only to lose another family member immediately after that need rescuing. However, the majority of the movie is spent rescuing Alex and stopping the cult from killing the Scorpion King first. "The Mummy Returns" has a few flaws that almost ruin the movie. Once Alex's meeting with the Mummy is over, the film immediately cuts to the three mercenaries entering the same room on the train. Were we supposed to be tricked into thinking it is a different room or that some time has passed between both scenes? Either way, the editor and other filmmakers failed to answer our question. What the film was missing was a buffer scene or shot inserted to simulate the passage of time. Another mistake is that the sunrise in Ahm Shere has the light entering the oasis the wrong way. In real life, the tallest structure or elevations are the first to see the sunlight. I guess the filmmakers were going for suspense. As the climax approaches, Ardeth regroups with his fellow Medjai but does so without telling the others. It is true that Ardeth expressed his need to go upon the death of Horus but he stays to help rescue Alex. Once that is accomplished, it makes sense he would go to lead the Medjai army but I wonder why the filmmakers didn't include a quick goodbye to the O'Connells. Also, how did Izzy fix the dirigible? Any sequel must introduce new characters for originality sake but half of the new characters in "The Mummy Returns" were not entertaining. This was Freddie Boath's first movie in the role of Alex and it shows. I also did not care for Alun Armstrong as Baltus Hafez or Patricia Velasquez as Anck-su-namun. The latter had an expanded role in this sequel but I think if the filmmakers had planned for sequels when making the first film, they would probably have cast someone else. The special effects, in some scenes, looked even phonier than the effects in the original film. One example is the wall of water. The worst CGI in the film for me was the Scorpion King in the climax because this looked fake even back in 2001. The visual effects here unfortunately fell into "The Uncanny Valley". The reason I can forgive these flaws is because the sense of fun we enjoyed in 1999 was not lost.

There were examples of good special effects in "The Mummy Returns" such the Madjai army and the mummified soldiers. Imhotep himself is pretty good CGI sometimes but not when he is partially regenerated on the train. The film is full of many enjoyable face-offs as well as a genuinely sad death scene. The best new character in this movie is Izzy. The film however seemed to set up that he was going to get shot so when he didn't, I was kind of let down. I was waiting for the payoff to the joke. I thought Lock-Nah was a great new character as well but the returning character Ardeth is better in this film than in the first. Unlike Anck-su-namun, Ardeth's additional screen time made him more entertaining. His best line is, "This was my first bus ride." Speaking of great lines, there is one that I have never forgotten ever since I first saw this movie. It is funny for me ever time I see the one mercenary mock the other by saying "This is cursed. That is cursed." Every time I hear the word "cursed", I think of this moment in "The Mummy Returns". Another noteworthy scene is the use of lighting as Rick enters the Scorpion King's tomb.

This was the film that introduced Dwayne Johnson to me and others in the world who were not fans of the WWF. When he reprised his role in the spin-off film by the way, he received a record salary for an actor in their first staring role of 5.5 million dollars. I knew he was a wrestler as I watched "The Mummy Returns" but due to his CGI form in the climax of this movie, I didn't think much of him. I never could have imagined that he would become the highest paid actor on the planet 15 years later. Director Stephen Sommers has a cameo by the way as the man in the bathtub at Izzy's place. The Mummy franchise continued with the aforementioned spin-off movie, "The Scorpion King", and a third film released seven years after the release of "The Mummy Returns". Sommers in my opinion made a decent follow up to his original film with this movie. I am aware of the film's mistakes but the show is still fun to watch.

4 Stars out of 5