The Mummy Returns (2001)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writer (WGA):

Stephen Sommers (written by)

Release Date:

4 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The most powerful force on earth is about to be unleashed by the two people who should know better.

Plot:

The mummified body of Imhotep is shipped to a museum in London, where he once again wakes and begins his campaign of rage and terror.

Plot Keywords:

King | Bracelet | Scorpion | Son | Egypt

Awards:

4 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Brendan Fraser	...	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell
Rachel Weisz	...	Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell / Princess Nefertiri
John Hannah	...	Jonathan Carnahan
Arnold Vosloo	...	High Priest Imhotep
Oded Fehr	...	Ardeth Bay
Dwayne Johnson	...	Mathayus the Scorpion King (as The Rock)
Freddie Boath	...	Alexander 'Alex' O'Connell
Patricia Velasquez	...	Meela Nais / Anck Su Namun
Alun Armstrong	...	Baltus Hafez
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Lock-Nah
Shaun Parkes	...	Izzy Buttons
Bruce Byron	...	Red
Joe Dixon	...	Jacques
Tom Fisher	...	Spivey
Aharon Ipalé	...	Pharaoh Seti I

Also Known As:

The Mummy 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 (cut) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Bloomsbury, London, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The title does not appear at the beginning of this film. The title finally is given at the end of the picture, after the headlining credits but before main credits roll. Now common, in 2001 leaving the title off the start of a film was a relatively rare innovation.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While entering the oasis various groups of soldiers are identified. When Napoleon's soldiers are identified they are stated to be "turn of the century". As this movie takes place in 1933 they should instead have been from the last century.

Quotes:

Evelyn: [to Imhotep] You wait! I'll put you in your grave again!
Baltus Hafez, the Curator: [to Evelyn] Our thinking was, not if we put you in your grave first.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Girlfriends: The Mommy Returns (#3.9)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Forever May Not Be Long Enough

Better than some would make out...

When The Mummy hit theatres in 1999, critics everywhere panned it as being a poor man's Indiana Jones. While the two movies are about as similar as Dr. No is to GoldenEye (thankfully), I suppose comparisons between one non-stop adventure film and other are inevitable. In the end, what really counts when determining a film's quality is the level to which it can entertain. And if there is one thing The Mummy did well, it was entertain. Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo were very well chosen for their roles.

The Mummy Returns is easy to see as being another sequel churned out to satiate the greedy money-machine that Hollywood has become, but it has a few things working for it. One thing that is immediately obvious is that the sequel was very much intended to be a film that could be enjoyed without ever having seen the original. The only references to the previous film are done to fill in the narrative gaps about who Imhotep is, and why he is the way he is. The addition of The Scorpion King was an interesting effort to give the film a new antagonist, but the lack of screentime didn't work well in this tangent's favour. Another tangent that could have been better developed was the rivalry between Imhotep's girlfriend and whatever her name was. Imhotep originally mistook Rachel Weisz's character for being his girlfriend reincarnated, so the use of a woman who looks exactly like her while creating this new tangent needed to be developed differently.

Most people won't give a damn about complex story tangents and will want to know if this film is entertaining. And it is entertaining, alright. There is barely a dull moment in the film's substantial running length, and Oded Fehr does a bang-up job of providing a Mad-Max-cum-Indiana-Jones hero. I want to know where they get those groovy costumes and tattoos from, they look quite nice. Anyway, when all is said and done, this is an eight out of ten film. A few badly constructed story details here and there, but some extremely entertaining action sequences make up for them. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. This is matinee-style material at its (almost) best. Get the DVD when it comes out, it will at least tide you over until George Lucas gets his head out of his proverbial and realises that the VHS era is well and truly over.