The Mummy Returns

Well folks really seemed to like my review of 1999's The Mummy, so why not continue the week with the 2001 sequel? The Mummy Returns is a movie that holds an odd place is history, not necessarily for overwhelming box office success, though it did well, but because this is the first major film to feature Dwayne "A decade ago I was doing awful kids movies and now people like me so much they want me to be president Rock" Johnson. Still sequels to near-perfect distillations of what they're trying to be, an old school adventure romp, are always tricky and The Mummy Returns isn't quite as fun as the first film.

Seven years after their initial mummy encounter, Rick and Evelyn O'Connell are enjoying married family bliss as an archaeological team with their son Alex. However, when a mysterious group of Imhotep cultists revive the powerful priest to unleash the army of Anubis and kidnap Alex, the O'Connell's will have to use all of their skills and embrace their destiny to save their son and ultimately the world.

So as I alluded to in the intro, The Mummy Returns is a mixed bag sequel. Fans of the original will still enjoy it, since our favorite characters and the tone are intact, but it's clearly not as polished as the first film. As such, I'll be picking out the new or altered elements that work, and the ones that don't work.

Works: Bad-Ass Evie

I really liked this evolution for Evelyn between the first and the second film. In the first movie she was knowledgeable and charming, but definitely not a warrior. Her brains were her greatest weapon. This time around though, she's evolved and is fully capable of defending herself and her family when the time comes. Her confidently stepping in to save her brother from death by sai is easily on the film's highlights.

Doesn't Work: Alex

I'm certain some folks don't mind Alex since he's got brains, gets to say fun things to bad guys ("My dad is going to kick your ass" in a British accent so ahhhss), and even helps to save his mom's life. That said, he's incredibly annoying and the movie would be better off without him. He does ninety percent of the things movie kids in action movies do like constantly crying out for help, making bad jokes, or failing to take the life or death circumstances around him seriously. The movie is full of people making quips, it really didn't need a small whiny British voice doing the same thing. I suppose this prevents Evie from being a damsel but I swear there's a less irritating way to do this.

Works: The Setup

The Mummy Returns wastes no time in setting up its new premise. We get the intro of the new magical item/place, we see where our lead characters are (turns out they're already on the trail of the new shenanigans), and the Mummy is revived before the thirty minute mark. As such, the rest of the movie is a race to the finish line to save humanity with well-defined good guys and bad guys and new challenges along the way. It's a great no-nonsense approach that I wish other sequels would follow.

Doesn't Work: It Ramps Up The Dumb

Movies like this tend to have what I will dub a "tipping point of dumb." Put another way, movies that are already silly and require some degree of audience forgiveness can start to lose their favor if they keep introducing silly things. Rick and Evie being related to ancient Egyptians? Kinda dumb, but ok by itself. Evie being Anck-su-namun's sister in a past last? Ok stretching a bit but ok. What about a guy with a jet powered hot air balloon? That's....I don't what? Oh and then Evie is gonna get killed but then revived by the Book of the Dead. Damn this is getting stupid. Can we just have a single monster or two to kill?

Works: The Old School Set Pieces

Much like the first film, the movie's set pieces are predominantly fun. The fight against mummies on the London and the brush shootout with the little pigmies and Johnathan and Evie sniping from the cliff are the kind of thing you sign up for. I'm even a fan of the Medjai staving off the army of Anubis is an old-fashioned blade vs. blade battle....that said another baddie...

Doesn't Work: The Really Bad CGI

General rule for a movie, if the tech isn't quite there, don't center your action packed finale around it. In this case that means don't make an actual scorpion version of the Rock entirely of out of CGI, where it can't even capture his facial likeness. Movie effects don't always age well but this is so laughable that it completely rips the audience out of the movie. Likewise, I have no idea how Imhotep's pained "Nooo!" after Rick kills the Scorpion King was timed that poorly, there's a legit five second delay, and not reshot.

Verdict: Perfect Midday Drinking Fare

The second Mummy movie has some notable missteps, but the first film's upbeat energy and enthusiasm still shines through. Still worth a watch if you're a fan of the first, just be ready to laugh.