Not perfect but...

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2001)

not a bad way to spend a hot afternoon and worth the $5 matinee ticket. I went to see The Mummy Returns with no other expectations other than to be entertained. If you know anything at all about ancient Egypt (4 canopic jars, not 5!) check it at the door or watch the History Channel. If the pharoahs would have had 1 ounce of the powers in The Mummy/Mummy Returns, do you think they would have been conquered by the Hittites and Romans?
On the minus side, I missed Beni. Where did all those waterfalls come from in the oasis? The ballon sequence was a bit too long and more unbelievable than the rest of the film. It didn't matter one way or another how long the Rock was in it, I'm not a wrestling fan. Evies fate was pretty predictable also. Sometimes the CGI was a little fuzzy (same with Star Wars, Episode I) Oh, and the idiot who sat behind us, who felt the need to repeat every line, just in case we missed it the first time.
Plus side? Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velazquez) did exactly what I thought she would. She did a lot of gestures, grimaces, etc., in the course of the film indicating she wasn't exactly a stand by your man kind of girl. Oded Fehr and John Hannah where back. Arnold Vasloo, still a great bad guy. Freddie Boath had a wonderful quality of being intelligent and adventuresome, without losing the fact that he was still a kid. And can that kid build sand castles? And as my teenage daughter would say "Brendon Fraser, what's not to like?".
All in all, it wasn't all that bad. I recall the second Lethal Weapon and Indiana Jones being worse than the third films in those series. So maybe the 3rd Mummy will be even better.