A lot of fun and a lot of errors

Rating: 5/10 (20 September 2007)

I would have rated it hire if the producers hadn't tried to cram so much action down our throats. "The Mummy Returns" picks up seven years after the first film. Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (Rachel Weisz) are married and have a precocious (and stereotypical) son named Alex (Freddie Boath).
Unfortunately, their peace is about to be shattered. Anck Su Namun (the incredibly gorgeous Patricia Velasquez) has been reincarnated. She has teamed up with a museum curator (Alun Armstrong) and his cult, led by Lock-Nah (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who should get an award just for hanging onto such an difficult name in Hollywood circles). Together, they excavate the ruins of Hamunaptra and unearth Imhotep. Later, they will revive him in London, try to revive the Bracelet of Anubis, kidnap Evie, sic mummies on Rick, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr), kidnap Alex and lead our heroes on a dangerous search for the Oasis of Ahm Shere, where Imhotep hopes to defeat the fabled Scorpion King (played mostly in CG by The Rock) and take control of the Army of Anubis.
Whew, that's a mouthful. The film has great action. A big fight scene in Rick's house, both upstairs and downstairs. A shoot-out in a museum. An exciting bus chase through the streets of London. A race between a tidal wave and a dirigible. An attack by strange-looking (and, ultimately, annoying) pygmy skeletons. A showdown between Imhotep and Rick, Jonathan and Anck Su Namun and then Evie and Anck Su Namun.
Definitely worth the price of admission.
However, the film had too many errors to warrant more than a five. Let's face it. Most movies had continuity errors (even "Raiders of the Lost Ark") but this film goes way beyond normal. It's almost like no research was done for this film and the director just went for what he thought the world of 1933 would look like.
For example:
1) There's a woman-on-woman fight scene in ancient Egypt before Pharoah Seti I, featuring sai blades. Sai blades were not in Egypt, but were created in China during the Ming Dynasty, which did not come about until 1368.
2) Alex's slingshot wasn't made until 1954.
3) Jonathan breaks off a key in the ignition of Rick's limousine, yet ignition keys for cars didn't come around until 1949.
4) The double-decker bus Jonathan commandeers in London was not designed until 1954.
5) Izzy (Shaun Parks), pilot of the dirigible that takes Rick and Evie to Ahm Shere, uses a fire extinguisher that seems old but wasn't made until 1980.
6) Alex is supposed to be eight years old. The Three Stooges -- actually three schmucks (Bruce Byron, Joe Dixon, Tom Fisher) written in only to be cannon fodder for Imhotep's assimilation -- comment that the Black Book of the Dead meant death for the Yanks of the original film nine years earlier. Much of the original film was set in 1926, a mere 7(!!!) years earlier. Somehow, the script writers fixated on 1923, the year in which the original movie was begun (remember, after Rick's escape from Hamunaptra, the film advanced three years to 1926).
7) There are a few other major hits, but none worse than (possible spoiler) a massive fight between the 12 Tribes of the Medjai and Anubis' warrior army. The 12 tribes seem to have 10,000 men on horseback. After the first round of battle, they're whittled down to several hundred, but we see not one body -- of Medjai or horse nor will we. If the film was trying to capture the magnificence of "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" or even "Spartacus," it failed horribly.
But, perhaps the most egregious problem is how the sequel screws up the events of the original film. In "The Mummy Returns," Evie is presented as the physical and spiritual reincarnation of Nefertiri, daughter of Seti I. In the first film, however, Imhotep mistakes Evie for a reincarnation of Anck Su Namun. How could he have not recognized Nefertiri? In "TMR," he doesn't seem to recognize her as Nefertiri either. In fact, Anck Su Namun doesn't recognize Evie as Nefertiri until almost the end of the film. What gives?
Also, at the end of the first film, when Imhotep sinks into the Well of Souls, he loses all the life he ripped from the Americans and the Egyptologist. We see his eyes and tongue go last. In "TMR," he reawakens with eyes and a tongue.
Oh, well, maybe I'm being too harsh. Brendan Fraser was his usual cool self and Arnold Vosloo almost stole the show again. The Rock was not in the film enough (but was in "The Scorpion King" way too much). The fight scene between Rick and Imhotep was fantastic with its array of weapons. It was also nice to see Jonathan stop being a cowardly wuss and Alex did tone down the annoying "mischievous kid" act by the end of the film. Anck Su Namun was particular seductive and evil (see her first meeting with Alex), although I had a hard time believing how her (oops, spoiler potential)...demise was presented. It seemed suddenly out of character and forced.
So, just go with the flow on this on. Watch it for the action and try not to be too cerebral. For action flicks, thinking too much can hurt.