Satisfying and funny

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2002)

After seeing 'The Mummy' in 1999, i was impressed with the plot, characters and special effects. I couldn't wait for the follow up 'The Mummy Returns' and when finally I saw it in the cinema, I was not disappointed. This is an action-packed film which never stops and has very many funny one-liners as well, Arded 'This was my first bus ride' after the fight against the mummies on the bus.
SPOILERS:
The movie starts with the Scorpion King (played by The Rock) and his army going into battle and being defeated. They are driven into the desert, where one by one they all perish, until the King is the only survivor. He makes a pact with the god Anubis that he will give him his soul if he spares his life. This offer is accepted and from then on, the Scorpion King is a slave to the god Anubis. Meanwhile, Rick and Evie find the bracelet of Anubis which has the power to release the army of Anubis, which could mean the world will be destroyed etc. The mummy Imohteb is resurrected in the British Museum and also in the film is his love Anck-su-namun from the first film who has been reincarnated.
All this plus many action sequences such as the bus-ride on the red London bus where Rick nearly gets killed and Arded nearly gets sliced and diced by those oh-so-nasty nails of one of the mummies!
I particularly liked the flashback scenes to Ancient Egypt, and was shocked but pleasantly surprised to see how everything fitted in to place like Evie who was Princess Nefertiri, daughter of the Pharoah, and her witnessing the murder of her father by Anck-su-namun and Imohteb. The fight between the two women was especially good, and highlights the rivalry between them. We also find out that Rick is a warrior for God, a Medji, (the same as Arded) from the tattoo/birthmark on his wrist, and obviously he is a reincarnation of the Medji from Ancient Egypt also.
The funny lines in the film are classic:
Izzy: You're not exactly catching me at my best Evelyn: Oh I'm sure I am
Alex on the toilet: Hey, reading material!
I burst out laughing at that line of Alex's and especially the look on Lock-Nah's face when Alex says, 'You'll look'
Coming to Lock-Nah, this is a good part played by a good actor. He is totally believable, although his hatred of the kid was a little overplayed. I like the scene where he strikes with the knife which lands between Alex's fingers. Alex, 'Wooah. Perfect aim' Lock-Nah, 'What are you talking about? I missed'
Evie looks much more stunning in this film, and her character is really likeable. She seems to have come outof her shell a bit more since the first movie. She steals the movie from Rick,although he is funny and suits the part.
I really like Oded Fehr who plays Arded, the Medji. He is a quiet hero and should not be forgotten. He could have had more lines. He is brave, relentless in stopping Imohteb/the army of Anubis/world destruction etc and should have had more of a major role.
Patricia Velasquez, beautiful girl and its good that she had more screentime than in the Mummy, where she was in it for only the first 10 minutes. Although my only major complaint about the whole movie was the part at the end where the rocks are falling in the pyramid, and Evie goes to save Rick. Imohteb calls out to Anck-su-namun to help him and she runs away without helping him.This breaks his heart and he lets himself be taken to die. Now, before Imohteb had left her to go and face the Scorpion King, she had said, 'No I don't want you to go. I don't want to lose you again' After saying that, (and anyway these guys are MEANT to be together through all time) she wouldn't have left him to die. She would have saved him. so i think that the scriptwriters let themselves down there. They could at least have kept the couples love strong, and maybe they could have died together in the pyramid to be resurrected again one day maybe...
Anyway, to sum it all up, this movies great, and I will probably check out the Scorpion King, however it hasn;t got any of the characters from the Mummy films in apart from The Rock. I heard that there was going to be another Mummy film and they would go back in time and it would be about everything that happened in Ancient Egypt which has all the major characters in which sounds amazing but has anyone else heard that?