A Film Shouldn`t Revolve Around CGI

Rating: 5/10 (15 May 2003)

The problem I had with the original film was that the script seemed to be written around the special effects , especially the CGI . Well the bad news about the sequel is that it suffers from the same problem multiplied by ten. Witness the opening prologue of massed armies fighting , an oasis appearing from nowhere and the scorpian king`s army overrunning a city all of which might have looked good on paper but on screen is badly executed due to some really apalling CGI . I don`t know what it is about this type of cinema technology but think of all the films where it`s been used in set pieces that fail to convince ( ESCAPE FROM LA , DIE ANOTHER DAY etc ) and watching it used in THE MUMMY RETURNS left me shaking my head wondering why directors and FX maestros haven`t been able to improve upon it . Watching the action scenes in this movie is like watching a cartoon.
Equally unconvincing and uninvolving is the screenplay which revolves around the bad guys wanting to get their hands on Rachel Weisz chest . Who can blame them ? you ask , well it`s not that sort of chest I`m talking about , it`s a treasure chest containing something or another which I didn`t bother to digest because the plot takes second place to a bunch of CGI inspired set pieces . Unfortunately most of the set pieces are stolen from the previous film which gave me a feeling THE MUMMY REMADE WITH A SEQUENCE STOLEN FROM JURASSIC PARK:THE LOST WORLD would have been a better title . And watch out for the number of scenes where one of the good guys is in serious trouble only to have the hero appear to save the day . It really does get tedious after the first three or four times it happens
I may be accused of taking this film far too seriously and not realising it`s a dumb popcorn movie . Perhaps but what`s wrong with an intelligent popcorn movie ? And does anyone else miss the good old days when monsters were men dressed up in costumes or stop frame photography ?