The Mummy Returns

If anyone knows anything about me, I found 1999's "The Mummy" to be one of the worst films in the history of cinema. It had horrible acting, plot holes the size of Pamela Anderson's breast (before reduction), and fooled people into believing that it was a horror movie when in reality it was a corny ass Indiana Jones rip-off. Unfortunately, the people did not see through the crapfest, and "The Mummy" laughed all the way to the bank with an impressive box office in a summer where "Star Wars:The Phantom Menace" was getting all the press. Skip ahead 2 years, and join along the fast tracked sequel "The Mummy Returns". I have to tell you I had every fear in my mind before heading into this theater, but in the end...it was quite a bit of fun.

"The Mummy Returns" picks up 10 years after the events in the original "Mummy". Rick (Fraser) and Evelyn (Weiz) are married now and have settled in London where they are raising their son Alex (Freddie Boath). When a chain of events finds the corpse of Imhotep resurrected in the British Museum, the mummy Imhotep walks the earth once more, determined to fulfill his quest for immortality. But another force has also been set loose in the world ... one born of the darkest rituals of ancient Egyptian mysticism, and even more powerful than Imhotep. When these two forces clash, the fate of the world will hang in the balance, sending the O'Connells on a desperate race to save the world from unspeakable evil and rescue their son before it is too late.

Perhaps my mindset is a little different now then when I saw the original Mummy. The press and media made the original Mummy out to be this great horror movie, and it ened up being a joke to both horror,action, and the comedy genres. The Mummy Returns drops the entire horror motif, and runs with what the first one should have...adventure. This movie is non stop action/adventure from start to finish. And its one hell of a ride. What also puts this film above the first one for me is the use of an actual plot line. Of course, to truly grasp this plot you would have to sit through the original Mummy...a feat I wouldn't wish upon anyone, but if you must the second one delivers the goods.

Though the movie proved to be pretty awesome on a lot of points, the acting from Fraser is still horrid. This guy should be shot for any performance he gives. He tries to deliver some comedic lines throughout the film, but the audience doesn't even snicker because his delivery is so flat. If you can ignore Fraser, the rest of the cast is perfect...especially the newcomer Freddie Broath. His portrayal of the young Alex is on the money, and gave some nice heart to the film.

There are also a lot of things that will bug the film enthusiast. Like how can a man outrun a rising sun (Don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it) or a gush of water, how no one can see a tattoo that rests on the main character's wrist that was placed there since he was an orphan but not noticed ONCE in the original film, and some badly misplaced attempts at humor. In fact, if this movie got rid of some of its final pieces of comedic failures...it would be one of the best films in some time. Of course, there is one final flaw that I must attack. The CGI on this film seems overly cheesy, and well..seemingly rushed. The Scorpion King at the end seems like a CGI casualty along the lines of the devil in "Spawn". Its bad people, and mix that in with the legion of armies that are all done in CGI...it can be a lot to consume all at one time. But, I was having far too much fun in this movie to care about it. I noticed, because thats the kind of person I am, but I didn't even give a damn.

All in all, "The Mummy Returns" fixes up the faults of "The Mummy" and raises the bar for "Scorpion King" and the now set in stone "The Mummy 3" (In case you didn't know...the Mummy 2 made 24 million dollars..ON FRIDAY).Its good popcorn fun (though a little long '121 mins'), and a great film to just get submerged in. I never thought I'd say this, but I look foward to see what the rest of this franchise has to offer. I just wish "The Mummy" wasn't apart of the series.

Rating: 1/2 out of four.

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