The Mummy Returns (2001)

Brendan Fraser as "Rick O'Connell" 
Rachel Weisz as "Evelyn O'Connell" 
John Hannah as "Jonathan Carnahan" 
Oded Fehr as "Ardeth Bay" 
Arnold Vosloo as "Imhotep" 
Freddie Boath as "Alex O'Connell" 
Patricia Velasquez as "Anck-Su-Namun" 
The Rock as "The Scorpion King" 

Written and directed by Stephen Sommers

If there were one word that sends combinations of gnawing pain and morbid excitement down my spine, it would be "sequel." Simply put, many sequels are pale imitations of their predecessors, and a large amount of these sequels range from fairly mediocre to grueling. (The same goes for prequels. That's right, George, your turn to be reviewed is coming.) It is the rare sequel that actually matches or surpasses its predecessor ("The Empire Strikes Back" is one of these few), so I have given up hope that a sequel can do so. My technique now is not to judge a movie against its previous installment, but simply as its own film, and hope against disappointment. But some movies just scream sequel.

"The Mummy Returns" is one such movie. Taken on its own, it is pretty good fun. As a sequel, it doesn't match the sense of surprise and shock that the first film used (and it lacks the gore), but of course, sequels rarely do. My largest complaint is that everything in this film is assembled rather quickly. Within the first half-hour, all of the primary characters that survived the first film are assembled in one place, and the film's central chase is on.

But before all of that, the movie starts with a brief prologue telling the story of the Scorpion King, a great warrior who launched a campaign to rule the known world. His forces were eventually defeated and driven into retreat. Of course, portraying the Scorpion King is WWF superstar (and one of my favorite wrestlers) The Rock. I know he's a big selling point, but don't get your hopes up. The prologue is about five minutes, and when we see him next, in the end, it isn't in the flesh.

But back to the story.

The Scorpion King was the last of his men to survive the long desert trek, and to avoid death, he made a pact with the dark god Anubis, promising his soul in exchange for an invincible army with which to conquer the world. Anubis honored his end of the bargain, but just after the final battle ended, the King and his army vanished, to be reawakened in 5,000 years. If allowed to do so, the Scorpion King would lead the army of Anubis to final victory and rule the world.

Flash forward to 1933, eight years or so after the original "Mummy" left off. Adventurer Rick O'Connell and librarian Evie Carnahan have been married throughout that length of time. In fact, they now have a son, Alex. We find them investigating yet another deserted tomb, one that Evie's dreams have pointed toward. Within the tomb is the bracelet of Anubis, a treasure that once belonged to the Scorpion King. After narrowly escaping the booby-trapped site, the family returns home to London. In these opening scenes, Fraser and Weisz adapt their characters' relationship from the sort of adversarial banter between characters destined to fall in love to a pleasant-and for the most part believable-married flirtation (though they seem more like newlyweds than an eight-year couple with child).

Meanwhile, in Hamunaptra (the City of the Dead), the remains of Imhotep are recovered by Anck-Su-Namun and the curator of the British Museum. Their plan is, of course, to resurrect Imhotep once more, and this time pit him against the Scorpion King so that he may defeat him and take control of the Army of Anubis. To do this, they need the Bracelet of Anubis, which they have tracked to the O'Connells.

Unfortunately, Alex has slipped on the bracelet, and when the bad guys come to call, Rick, Evie, and her brother Jonathan fight to defend their son and home, and are joined by Ardeth Bay (the cool, yet creepy Medjai warrior), who slips in from nowhere to aid them. Evie is captured, unfortunately, and our heroes race to save her. In doing so, they witness Imhotep's resurrection and shoot their way out. During the escape and ensuing bus chase, Alex is kidnapped. The bad guys need him because the bracelet will tell him (and only him, since it won't come off) the location of the Scorpion King. As if that wasn't enough of a downer, if they fail to find the Scorpion King in seven days, the bracelet will kill Alex as soon as the sun hits it on the seventh.

And this is all within the first half-hour, folks.

Basically, this is all pretty much a "good guys versus bad guys" flick. Everything is set up rather quickly, and there is a lot more action this time around. Much of it is in fight sequences, with guns, swords, and fists. Imhotep has an army of human followers now, and he uses those guys far more than his supernatural constructs.

Another complaint I have is with the film's use of subplots for the two main heroes. Stephen Sommers attempts, at least, to develop Evie's subplot. It seems her dreams and visions are actually from her previous life, which would explain how she could outfight most of the guys now. Rick's subplot, however, stems from the Medjai tattoo on his wrist, which Ardeth explains as being a sign of his destiny. This is discussed a couple of times, but largely forgotten throughout. It would have been just as well if Sommers had left that one out.

The special effects are largely on par with those of the original, but a little heavier on CGI. This ranges from spectacular in many scenes to painfully obvious in one (the Scorpion King's final form, which I won't say any more about).

The performances are also pretty consistent, though Rachel Weisz's Evie isn't as bubbly as she was before. This time, the role is more physically demanding than emotionally so, meaning that between action scenes, all she has to do is act like a concerned and frightened parent and snuggle with Brendan Fraser (though sometimes I wish I was in his place).

Fraser, on the other hand, is still the same Rick, and one can wonder exactly how much his character has changed within the eight-year story gap between films. That's not a bad thing, though. Fraser's action hero turn was one of the original's main draws, and he once again proves his deftness with balancing action and humor.

I guess Stephen Sommers can't help but rehash some situations and scenes (the tidal wave-balloon chase was a repeat of the biplane-sand dune chase from the first movie), but at least he doesn't leave things quiet for long. The movie is paced quickly, yet evenly enough to keep from being boring. There's enough humor in Sommers' script to keep things light enough as well. Sommers also borrows themes from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (strong female characters at the center of the film and martial arts sequences) and "The Matrix" (aping some of the camera angles and movements in the final battle). Thankfully, this didn't really hurt the film.

The main reason I enjoyed "The Mummy" so much back in 1999 was because it was a lot of fun. Sure, it was basically a big-budget B-movie with nods to Indiana Jones, and than was enjoyable. "The Mummy Returns," while still not on the level of its predecessor (like many sequels), nonetheless succeeds as blissfully mindless entertainment.