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Dan Owen reviews
- Cert:
- Running time: 130 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Released: Summer 2001
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Rating: 6/10
Director: Stephen Sommers
Cast:
- Rick O’Connell: Brendan Fraser
Evelyn O’Connell: Rachel Weisz
Jonathan: John Hannah
Imhotep: Arnold Vosloo
Ardeth Bay: Oded Fehr
Freddie Boath: Alex O’Connell
Anck-Su-Namun: Patricia Velasquez
The Scorpion King: The Rock
The Mummywas a deserved success in the summer of ’99, but itsold-fashioned Indiana Jones-inspired formula was sadly eclipsed by the hypeand mania over Star Wars Episode I and The Matrix. So, barelytwo years later, its sequel The Mummy Returns arrives in cinemasto grab acclaim as the unofficial First Summer Blockbuster.
It’s now 1933, a decade after the titular mummy was killed and buried underEgyptian ruins, and adventurer Rick O’Connell and timid librarian Evie havesince married and now have a 9-year-old son, Alex. The O’Connells obviouslyhaven’t learned anything from past experiences, and now spend their daysuncovering sacred tombs in the bowels of Egyptian pyramids. It’s in one suchtomb that Evie discovers a bracelet belonging to the legendary ‘ScorpionKing’ – a cursed Egyptian warrior, who legend has it, will one day return toEarth with the jackal-headed Army Of Anubis and take over the world. So far,so good…
But meanwhile, the corpse of Imhotep is uncovered by a team of occultists,who plan to reanimate the ancient High Priest once again to defeat TheScorpion King and lead Anubis’ unstoppable Army himself. And, you guessedit, it’s up to the O’Connell family to save the day once again…
The Mummy Returns is a movie of excess.
Director Stephen Sommers obviously has a great love and fondness for thesubject matter, and above all else both his Mummy movies are rollicking goodadventures at heart… but with this cash-in sequel he’s replaced thesubtleties and style of the original with excessive CGI and anoverly-complex plot.
In an effort to outdo the original, Sommers make the grave mistake of simplyoverloading the audience with visual after visual. In the original,audiences could focus on the Mummy character for all the FX wizardly whilethe cast gave humorous tongue-in-cheek support… but in “Returns” thescreen literally overflows with needless and often *pointless*computer-generated images.
Sommers should have heeded the old adage “less is more”, because togetherwith his frantic pacing and web-like storyline, the audience is unable toreally focus and enjoy the film. It just becomes a very long eye-strain.
However, in the quieter moments the cast yet again turn in likeableperformances, although the jokes are thinner on the ground this time aroundand a few of the key players look to be phoning in their performances.Rachel Weisz‘s character has the only real “development” (ie, she’s nottimid anymore!), which enables her to engage in sai fights with PatriciaVelasquez. So, er, her development only really serves the plot and doesn’tadd anything to the mix….
John Hannah has sadly drawn the shortest straw and he assumes thecomic-relief role supplied by Kevin O’Connor‘s Benny in the original. ButHannah is pushed into the background, lost amongst the computer graphics,and delivers half the quotient of funny lines he dished out in the previousmovie. The rest of the cast all return and recreate their charactersadmirably (well, it’s only been 2 years since the first film!).
And herein lies a key problem – without a sizeable gap between movies, “TheMummy Returns” feels more like an extension of the first film rather than aseparate entity. It’s Chapter 2 of the same book, only this chapter’s not aswell-written as the first. Therefore, the characters look and act the same,and the advances in special-effects is negligible. In fact, the shrivelledmummies of the first film are *better* than the ones shown here, and towardsthe end of the film the budget begins to strain against the demands of thescript. So, sadly, the grand finale is a huge let-down; especially when theScorpion King make his exit – resembling a distinctly average Playstation 2graphic!
On the positive side, the pacing of the film means things are atleast neverdull, and there’s always plenty going on (sometimes too much!). There arealso enough solid moments of good entertainment to make the whole thingworthwhile. But, scrape away the unncessary CGI sequences (pygmies!) andmoments stolen from the first film (waterwall!), and you’re left with apretty routine adventure with a very contrived plot.
Overall, The Mummy Returns delivers breathlessly paced action and plentyof visuals, but neglects the comic-touch and deliberate, believable, styleof the first film. This sequel is less a comic-book update of the originalUniversal The Mummy, and more a gluttonous, flawed, cash-in on asuccessful formula.
I beg them to let The Mummy rest in peace, but I doubt they will. A prequelfocusing on The Scorpion King is already being filmed, and if indeed Imhotephimself rises from his grave once more… let’s just hope it’s a not for afew years yet and with fresh talent behind the camera to give us somethingnot necessarily *bigger*, but better and… *different*.
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2001.E-mail Dan Owen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.