Product: The Mummy Returns [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 3.0
Amiable piece of hokum
Clearly a film like this is not going to be an experience which improves ones mind and starts the nation thinking. However within its constraints it is an enjoyable fast moving film of the special effects genre.I saw the fist film and liked it moderately. It clearly was not a remake of the Boris Karloff film of the same name but got certain plot ideas, which it expanded, into a comedy setting. Its strengths were the principle characters specifically Brendon Fraser and whoever plays the villain.The sequel has the same cast as the original movie. It rather artificially reincarnates the villain from the first movie and we are of again. Some of the film makes absolutely no logical sense. The main characters fight to gain control of an army of mechanical warriors who fight with battle axes. With the invention of modern weapons the only use of this phantom army would be to run a protection racket in a backward town in the Sudan. One can understand that the villain of the film might see this army as impressive he is a reincarnated Egyptian after all. He has not had much time to adopt to the modern world and to see that the battle axe is a bit passe.Never the less the film is reasonably well scripted, the actors look good and perform well and the film is fast passed.The extra bits in the DVD are basically promotional material and explanations about the special effects. One of the weird things about the extra bits is that it shows the actors as actors and one can see how human they are. The character who plays the mummy for instance appears to be rather pudgy and his skin tone is dreadful. The transition to the screen makes a big difference.