The Mummy Returns
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velasquez, Freddie Boath, and the Rock.
How’s this for an allegory of my life? Two years ago, I get a call from my friends in Edmonton, asking if I want to go see The Mummy. I didn’t really want to, but I was eager for an excuse to get out of the house and hang out with my friends. Now, in the present day, do I get any such phone call? No. It seems my friends have forgotten all about me. So, I was on my own to see The Mummy Returns. But, since it did set new records for biggest non-holiday weekend opening ever, I knew I had to go see it.
It’s eight years after The Mummy, and we find that our heroes from the first film, Rick and Evie (Frasier and Weisz) are married, have a son Alex (Boath), and are in the throes of living happily ever after. They desicrate another tomb to find the Bracelet of Anubis. This just happens to be the key to the tomb of the Scorpion King (the Rock), and little Alex gets it stuck to his wrist. And where is our mummy? Well, it seems that his beloved whom he was trying to resurrect in the first film has gone and gotten herself reincarnated (Velasquez). So, she goes and resurrects Imhotep (Vosloo). Reunited at last, they seek to conquer the world. If the Scorpion King can be defeated in battle, the winner will get command of the army of Anubis. And to get to the Scorpion King, they need the Braclet of Anubis. So, they kidnap Alex and head off to the Scorpion King’s long lost tomb. Rick and Evie, Evie’s brother Johnathon (Hannah), and ass-kicking warrior Ardeth Bay (Fehr) head off to rescue Alex and send Imhotep back to the underworld again.
This movie is a just a big, fun summer action film. And, like most big, fun, summer action films, it tends to drag a bit between the big special effects sequences. But they are good special effects sequences, easily topping what we saw in the last film. Another top notch job by ILM. The performances are pretty good. Frasier is still good as his Indiana Jones-ish hero, and Vosloo, as Imhotep, is just a great villain. A man of few words, just ass-kicking. And, with all the fuss over the Rock as the Scorpion King, he’s just in it for about 5 minutes. But, all in all, if you liked the first one, you’ll like this one.