Disappointing sequel that still manages to be fun

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2002)

"The Mummy Returns" is the (naturally) brainless sequel to 1999's hit movie "The Mummy", featuring a plot which doesn't deserve mentioning suffice to say "The Mummy" is back and he has some friends with him.
I enjoyed "The Mummy" for its sheer "silly fun" attitude. "The Mummy Returns" retains the comedy/action/adventure flavour and features all the same characters. However it features one new, unwelcome, addition - the Kid. Kids can destroy a movie and are rarely welcome as they tend to get kidnapped, and cause havoc without doing anything constructive (but certainly destructive). The kid here - Alex (Freddie Boath) - is more tolerable than most but he still adds nothing to the movie, and grated on my nerves. And he got kidnapped. How. Unsurprising.
The script is more stupid than the original, and has less of the tongue-in-cheek humour to it. Having said that there's enough there to entertain - plenty of action, again enhanced by (mostly) decent SFX. It looks and plays out fairly well.
Sequels to block busters are generally poor cash-ins. This is a cash-in, but isn't that poor, relative to the original. It still disappointed me because I didn't enjoy it as much as "The Mummy" - the action isn't quite as good, the humour a little bit less present, and there is a kid but you could do worse. I'll give it a 5.8/10.