REVIEWS-Mummy Returns

"...the characters remain so cardboard that the film turns into a big effects show"

MUMMY RETURNS
Rated PG-13

Director/Screenwriter: Stephen Sommers
Cast: Brendan Fraser (Rick O'Connell), Rachel Weisz (Evelyn O'Connell), Patricia Velazquez (Anck-Su-Namum), Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bey), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (The Scorpion King).
Running Time: 125 minutes
Released: June 16, 2001

ALTERNATE REALITY Review by Lawrence Evans
HIS RATING: SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED (** stars)

This sequel sorely misses the structure that the writer of the original film, Kevin Jarre, gave the first film. At least ten years have past since the Mummy was destroyed but I think placing this five years after would have made more sense and eliminated the kid who serves no purpose save that of a walking story device. In Returns we begin by telling the saga of the Scorpion King (played by WWF superstar the Rock here and next summer in a prequel) who must be resurrected for some unclear reason then move ahead to our heroes digging up another ruin. One thing leads to another and everyone from the first film return to either stop the rebirth or make it so.

Writer/director Stephen Sommers comes up with a script that is highly self-aware but the characters remain so cardboard that the film turns into a big effects show. According to Sommers the characters Frazer and Weisz play were destined to be involved in this struggle to defeat the evil that is the Mummy. I got the feeling halfway through the movie that I had mistakenly wandered into the third part of a three-picture saga and when it ended I wondered why we would need to see these folks again. This is about half as good as the first one.