The Mummy Returns (2001) Universal/Fantasy-Action-Adventure-Horror RT: 130 minutes Rated PG-13 (adventure action and violence) Director: Stephen Sommers Screenplay: Stephen Sommers Music: Alan Silvestri Cinematography: Adrian Biddle Release date: May 4, 2001 (US) Cast: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velasquez, Freddie Boath, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Alun Armstrong, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Shaun Parkes. Box Office: $202M (US)/$433M (World)
Rating: ** ½
It is written that every successful movie shall beget a sequel of lesser quality. I don’t know exactly where it’s written, but it feels like the right way to open my review of The Mummy Returns, a noisier and more convoluted sequel to the hit 1999 movie. While it’s sillier than its predecessor, it’s not as much fun. I gave up trying to follow the confused plot early on, but it’s not really about that. It’s a case of too much/enough already. The Mummy Returns gets boring after a while. When it was over, I felt numb rather than entertained. While that’s the biggest of its problems, it’s not the only one.
The Mummy Returns is being sold as the movie debut of WWF star The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) who receives prominent billing in the trailer. It’s the biggest bait-and-switch since Steven Seagal in Executive Decision. The reality is The Rock’s role doesn’t even amount to a cameo. We see him for a few minutes at the beginning with some dopey backstory about somebody called “The Scorpion King”. He doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. He returns near the end, but this time it’s just The Rock’s head digitally attached to the body of a giant scorpion. It’s a computer-generated special effect NOT a person so I’m not even sure it counts. How can you judge the man’s acting abilities based on what little he actually does in The Mummy Returns? You can’t. That the CGI is terrible adds insult to injury.
As for the plot, it doesn’t make a lick of sense so describing it is a task even the gods would be hard-pressed to perform. I’ll still give it a shot. Here goes nothing. After all the Scorpion King business (circa 3067 BC), the story catches up ten years after the events of the first movie. Adventurer Rick (Fraser) and Egyptologist Evie (Weisz) are now married. They have an 8YO son Alex (Boath) who takes after both parents with his fearlessness and clumsiness. They’re exploring a ruined ancient temple in Thebes where they find the Bracelet of Anubis which leads the wearer to the Ahm Shere Desert and the location of the Scorpion King’s pyramid. The problem is that once it’s on, it doesn’t come off until the wearer reaches the pyramid. Also, the wearer has only seven days to get there or else die when the sun’s rays shine on the pyramid. You may have noticed I neglected to mention the identity of the wearer. Well, it’s young Alex. There’s nothing like a child in jeopardy to get the action going.
Another party would like to get to the pyramid, the resting (?) place of the Scorpion King and his army. That other party is a cult led by museum curator Baltus Hafez (Shakespearean actor Armstrong). Somehow, they’ve resurrected Imhotep (Vosloo) and intend to use him to defeat the Scorpion King so he can take control of his army for the purposes of taking over the world. For his part, Imhotep plans to once again attempt to resurrect his late forbidden lover Anck-su-Namun. As it so happens, one of the cult members (Velasquez) is the reincarnation of Anck-su-Namun so all it will take is a quick soul switch. After a failed attempt to sacrifice Evie, the cult kidnaps Alex and takes him to Egypt with his parents in hot pursuit (in a dirigible, no less!).
As you can see, the storyline is something of a mess. Like I said, I stopped trying to follow the plot and instead focused on the action scenes which are pretty fun. In one scene, an army of mummified soldiers chases our heroes through the streets of London. Did I mention that Rick and company are driving a double-decker bus? Well, they are. Later on, they’re attacked by pygmy mummies. Sure, the creatures are obviously CGI creations, but there’s something cool about them.
I enjoyed The Mummy Returns on a very superficial level. It’s not a bad movie per se. The cast still looks like they’re having fun. Fraser is a decent leading man. Weisz is better than the material deserves, but she’s a good sport about it. Boath has some great scenes as their trouble-prone son. In an early scene, he duplicates the mishap his mother had with the bookshelves in the library at the beginning of the first movie. The special effects aren’t anything special. Some of it’s good, some not so good. It’s a noisy movie.
I left the first movie with a goofy smile on my face; The Mummy Returns left me feeling rather empty. The thrills are kind of hollow. It’s a watchable movie; it has a great deal of action and a few laughs. It all feels perfunctory which drains some of the fun out of it. It’s a decent time-killer on a rainy afternoon.
