Amazing, "pulp" entertainment...

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2001)

I'll grant that Mummy Returns lacks a bit of script and story spark that drove the first film, but it makes up for it by adding in some good villains, tons of action, and a spirit of adventure. As someone who grew up on Harryhausen-style fantasy fables (like the Sinbad films), I can confidently say that Mummy returns is probably the closest modern cinema has come to that age of pure adventure, when it was all about the heroes taking on supernatural evils and such. All the flaws here amount to virtually diddly squat compared to the sheer bang for the buck you get. Like the 1998 Mummy film, what we have here is a wonderful, "pulp" serial adventure, harkening back to the days of jungle adventures and such. Mummy is often criticized for borrowing a lot from other movies, but yet oddly enough, it does it better than the movies it's borrowing from. I also hear Indiana Jones rip-off, bandied around alot, failing to note that Indiana Jones was, itself, a tribute to classic adventure serials, and ripped off tons of stuff from those. Ignore the critics on this one, because they seem to be taking the wrong view of this kind of movie. I could see bad reviews if this were touted as a Shakespearean masterpiece or a triumph of Oscar-worthy acting, but it isn't. At no time has this film ever been advertised as anything but a fantasy adventure, pure and simple. Why is it so hard for people to make that division between works that SHOULD be artistically examined, and works that shouldn't? As a sequel, Mummy Retusn promised more action as the Mummy comes back to wreak havoc. Did it deliver that? Yes. No argument.