MUMMY RETURNS (aka: MONEY RETURNS)

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2001)

I usually don't leave comments for films that will generate dozens upon dozens of reviews, as mine will get lost in the mix. The further it descends down the list of reviews the less likely it will be read. However, in this case I had to leave a review because I hope that anyone who happens to read it will take heed and save themselves the price of a movie ticket.
I was not all that impressed with the first movie, although my wife and kids love it and the more I see it the more I like it. I was actually looking forward to seeing this sequel. To say it let me down would be misleading. The more appropriate way to describe it would be to say that the film hurled my hopes to the ground and proceeded to stomp on them all the while laughing at me for the amount of money it cost to see this film with my family. As from many of the other reviews you can tell that this film did not have the character chemistry between the actors. Although others seem not to like Fraser in this role I think he saved the movie. His character seemed the least changed, other than the fact that he was always trying to initiate a romantic interlude with his wife (Weisz) In fact if he had not been pursuing his wife of 9 years so aggressively he could have avoided most of the perils, if not all of them. Still, Fraser's performance was almost as good as the first.
The rest of the actors didn't do much to enhance their roles. The Rock's performance was okay but after all the hype I expected to see a little more of him. Not so!?! Also, the special effects involving him sucked big time. If you don't mind learning the end before you see the movie read some of other reviews here at IMDB to get an understanding of how the movie fell apart. Instead of using the FX to enhance the movie it dominated the movie and despite what some say they were not that good. The price for the large amount of FX was the small amount of coherent story.
The first movie had normal people thrust into unusually situations. This film now takes these same normal people and changes them into people that have been reincarnated, while others, we find out, have been marked as protectors of the world against ancient Egyptian folklore. Figures that the writers can't identify what was good about the first film. It makes me wonder if there is a writer strike in the motion picture industry if the industry won't be better of for it.
Like most action films this should be seen in a theater. In this film's case it should be seen at the dollar show and not the 8-dollar show. Remember, it's your money and you've been warned.