The Mummy Returns (2001)

You know the old saying “You just can’t keep a good Mummy down”, or an evil one for that matter!  This sequel picks up several years after the end of the first Mummy film and finds that Evelyn and Rick are married with a young son.  They are on a dig where they find the bracelet of the Scorpion King, which a brief narrative at the beginning of the movie explains that he was a great king of he ancient world.  The Scorpion King sold his soul to Anubis to lead the god’s armies and was cursed for all eternity.  Well after returning back to England with the artifact they are attacked by some familiar enemies.  It seems that Imhotep’s old flame Anuk Su Namun was reincarnated and with the help of allies has freed him from the prison he was locked in at the end of the Mummy.  They want the bracelet of the Scorpion King because it will lead them to his resting place.  Once every five thousand years one can do battle with the Scorpion King, and if you win you get to control the armies of Anubis.   Imhotep wants those armies so he can get back to destroying the world and ruling over it’s ruins.  To further complicate things Rick and Evelyn’s young son accidentally put the bracelet on and can’t take it off.  So instead of just stealing the bracelet Imhotep is forced to kidnap their son, with them in pursuit.  All of them head off to the Scorpion King’s tomb to do battle with each other and the armies of Anubis. 

This movie is a worthy sequel to the first film.  The story moves along briskly and is never boring.  Again the film is filled with funny one-liners.  I was also impressed how well they managed to refer back to the first film without repeating themselves.  If I had a complaint it would be the glut of new characters and a particular plot line that made no sense.  First of all in addition to Imhotep returning as a villain we get a reincarnated Anuk Su Namun, a bad ass right hand man Lock-Nah, a high priest, and the Scorpion King.  This is just way too many villains to add the mix and it becomes difficult to follow.  Also the CGI “critters” have multiplied with not only the mummified guards from the first movie, but pygmy mummies and an army of dog creatures.  Plus there is a silly story line, which involves Evelyn being the reincarnated spirit of the Pharaoh’s daughter that Imhotep and Anuk Su Namun killed.  If this is true then how did he not recognize her in the first movie?  Small complaint, but it did bug me. 

As in the first movie the cast is really good here.  Both Rachael Weisz and Brendan Frasier are more comfortable in their roles, while keeping the great chemistry from the first film.  The returning supporting cast is again great as well.  The young actor that plays the son, Freddie Boath, does a wonderful job.  I’m surprised that this is the only movie that he did, because he is one of the better child actors I’ve seen on screen.  Some of the other newcomers are probably good as well, but suffer from a lack of screen time. 

Unlike the first movie this film relies on CGI a little too much.  The mummies and scarabs still look decent, but the big battle scene with Anubis’ army isn’t great.  It looks dated and was probably asking a bit much.  But the worst part is the attempts to create a CGI Scorpion King.  It looks terrible and takes away from what should be the exciting conclusion of the movie.  So basically the movie is a mixed bag as far as the effects go. 

For me the bottom line here is that this isn’t as good as the first Mummy movie.  I found the movie fun, but it does have flaws.  Still it isn’t a bad way to kill a couple of hours and can be had for a decent price on the Mummy franchise collection with the first film and the follow up Scorpion King movie. 

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2008 John Shatzer