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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 12

Cast Brendan Fraser Rachel Weisz John Hannah Arnold Vosloo Dwayne Johnson.

Directors Stephen Sommers.

Screenwriters Stephen Sommers.

Running Time 130 minutes

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The Mummy Returns
More Egyptian action as the evil Imhotep climbs from his tomb to wreak havok once more

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Plot
Eight years after Imhotep was first reincarnated, he is once again brought to life and embarks upon a quest for immortality and world domination, this time by trying to overcome another recently resurrected evil force, The Scorpion King. The only people who can stop him? Rick and Evelyn O’Connell, now married and living in London with their eight-year-old son, Alex.

Review
As we all know, the law of averages dictates that sequels shouldn't be as good as their predecessors, and this attempt to franchise 1999's highly enjoyable, and surprisingly profitable, caper, is no exception. The Mummy Returns (are two further efforts entitled The Mummy Forever and The Mummy And Robin set to follow, one wonders?) was a blockbuster waiting to happen, but for all its slick proficiency and brilliant special effects, it's hard to locate in the over-complicated story any of the innocent, tongue-in-cheek charm that made the first film so enjoyable. This is sequel-making by numbers, where the zealous attempts to outdo the predecessor, (one all-poweful baddy last time - hey! - let's have two this time!) loses sight of the finer points.

That's not to say that the second instalment is a lost cause; as escapist, noisy (and indeed the thrills are on an ear-splitting level here) popcorn entertainment, it certainly delivers. The plot, however, gets thoroughly messy, as our heroes fuss over whether or not it's really wise to open ancient Egyptian chests covered in cobwebs, and their resourceful child (Boath) has to live with the consequences of putting on an antique bracelet which allows him to take a speeded-up virtual tour of ancient Egypt. Meanwhile, Fraser and Weisz find themselves involved with Imhotep and his band of undead followers, in such a convoluted way that they are forced to once again save the world from his grasp. You can guess the rest. Also caught up in all this is Hannah, reprising his toff in peril role to even more annoying effect, Velasquez as the kind of character you know was just included to get reincarnated and challenge Weisz to some nifty, post-Crouching Tiger catfights, and wrestler The Rock, whose triumphantly overblown billing as 'The Scorpion King' achieves little except to thoroughly disappoint his legion of tiny fans when they discover how little he is actually on screen.

Despite some neat set-pieces (highlights including a fast and furious man vs. mummy battle on a double-decker bus, and some seriously vicious pygmy mummies in the desert), the action takes too long and sags noticeably in the middle when stilted dialogue takes over from the special effects which are, unsurprisingly, the movie's real star. By the time the final reel happens along we're in familiar territory, with the CGI wizardry the audience will have paid to see unleashed in awesome, truly spectacular fashion. As crustaceans run riot and huge armies swarm the desert like marauding bugs, plot complications cease to become important and the action takes centre stage. If the rest of the movie had been so straightforward they'd have been on to a winner.

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Mummy Returns, The

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Average user rating for The Mummy Returns

RE: Mummy Returns, The

It's the same film! Even Fraser said so, they just remade the first film. It's still a bunch of fun, mind, the Pygmies running across the bridge scene cracks me up every time. ... More

Posted by JohnChard at 23:00, 24 March 2013 | Report This Post

RE: Mummy Returns, The

The one thing I can say about this sequel straight away is kudos for the continuity, Sommers has managed to gather all the original cast to carry on and this does wonders for an otherwise very average film. Usually you tend to see the odd character played by someone else which always looks poor in my eyes. Any who we kick off again with more nasty villains after treasure and power which we all know will end in tears...and probably some kind of horrible face melting death, there I go with m... More

Posted by Phubbs at 06:27, 11 April 2012 | Report This Post

The Mummy Returns Review

The special effects are impressive, but its excessive use gives the movie a detached, artificial feel. As such, the characters seems secondary to the computer generated imagery, and they lose much of the charm they had in the first movie. Also, with so many story elements borrowed from other movies, this Mummy feels like a retread. ... More

Posted by the film man at 14:25, 19 December 2011 | Report This Post

Shotguns! Mummy Monkeys!

This is the whip cracking adventure that I hold the closest. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are freakin awesome in it Great film from my childhood, gotta watch again sometime ... More

Posted by monkeyhumour at 04:09, 04 August 2010 | Report This Post

Not as good as the first...

...but it's not bad. The cast from the original give what they promise and the action, though OTT at times, is cracking to watch. This sequel follows some of the footsteps left by the first by showing the audience pure entertainment. And I think those are good enough reasons to watch the film...and the young boy who plays Alex is surprisingly watchable, unlike the egyptian whore Anuk...su-na-muu...Ann...aksuna...I can't even spell the fucking name! ... More

Posted by !xHoTRoDx! at 11:27, 19 March 2009 | Report This Post

CACK!!! watch the far superior original!!!!! ... More

Posted by jimibadboi7 at 18:19, 22 July 2008 | Report This Post

There is nothing here not to like! I thought that I loved the first one but this sequel is far, far better. What do you mean its boring when there arnt special effects?! the one liners are hysterical! The action is brilliant the plot is GENIUS (what with the visions and stuff) and its most definitely not a rehash of the first. Real feal good fun. ... More

Posted by Seth at 16:28, 12 October 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Mummy Returns, The

dumb entertainment. fun. ... More

Posted by Movie Dude at 01:27, 20 January 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Mummy Returns, The

I actually liked this film. 3 Stars. ... More

Posted by CURIOUS_GEORGE at 17:40, 19 January 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Mummy Returns, The

The Mummy was fun, but this commits the cardinal sin of any dumb action movie of being not only dumb but boring as hell.  And John Hannah gives one of the worst performances in recent memory. ... More

Posted by rudeboy at 16:38, 19 January 2006 | Report This Post

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