An Honest Review

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2016)

And what happened? The Mummy Returns is far from a bad flick. It is still a massively entertaining adventure, but it just seems...odd? Here there be mysteries...but don't worry you don't have to see the first one to really understand the second. It's not that type of movie.
But it is challenging. It challenges you to get past the...well, let me bring you up to speed.
Fraser the foolhardy adventurer and Weisz the lost in her own world Archaeologist got together in the first film and are still together in the second, only now it's been a few years and they have a little kid.
Hannah is still around playing the brother and black sheep of the family. Vosloo is still the mummy. Fehr is still the guardian of whatever society and the bulk of the film still takes place in Egypt.
But it is challenging. It challenges you to keep up with the inconsistencies. Honestly, they are just pulling plot points out of hammer-space in this one. They are adding backstories that would have been insanely relevant in the first film had they thought they were going to make a sequel...
...but they didn't and rather than writing a follow-up that would stay consistent film they threw caution to the wind and opted to just make everything up and hope the audience went along with it.
And we did.
Because, let's face it, it's not exactly Shakespeare. We weren't expecting Richard the II. Honestly, if you can't follow it, you have an IQ below 80 and if the blatant inconsistencies upset you so much you can't get around them than you are taking life way too seriously for your own good.
This is a popcorn popper. This is a soda sucker. This is a sit down in your chair and enjoy the campy-fun ride.
The audience walked into The Mummy Returns expecting an adventure film that delivered action and humor and that is exactly what they got.
The bottom line is that, despite its massive flaws, The Mummy Returns is still entertaining and that is all it is, Entertainment. Capital E there.
If you want a heady work of cinematic brilliance...well, you shouldn't be watching this. This movie had one job and it pulled it off soundly.