Product: The Mummy Returns [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Terror Is Reborn...
With the gigantic success of "The Mummy", Universal Studios and director Stephen Sommers believed that they had a budding franchise on their hands. With both the movie studio and the director wishing to see this possible franchise come to fruition, little time was wasted in getting Stephen Sommers busy at work on crafting the sequel. With a bigger budget, an already established backstory for most of the characters, and the entire cast returning, things were definitely looking good for an even bigger box office return for this sequel.Set in 1933, "The Mummy Returns" takes place approximately 10 years after the events of "The Mummy". Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (Rachel Weisz) are now married and have a young son named Alex. After a devasting chain of events leads to the resurrection of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) in London, before they realize what's going on Rick and Evie find themselves in a fight against an army of mummies, and their son ends up getting kidnapped by Imhotep. Now that Imhotep once again walks the Earth, determined to fulfill his quest for immortality, another force has been loosed upon the world... one born of the darkest rituals of ancient Egyptian mysticism, and even more powerful than Imhotep. With the fate of the world in the balance, Rick and Evie must race against time to save not only the world but also rescue their son from Imhotep before it's too late.As I stated earlier, this film received an even bigger budget, and had the fortune of getting the entire cast back together, "The Mummy Returns" succeeds in being even bigger, more extravagant, and better than the original film. With the backstory for the majority of the characters out of the way in "The Mummy", director/writer Stephen Sommers was allowed more freedom in exploring more of the world of this franchise without having to get bogged down on origins. An interesting segment in the movie happens at the beginning of the film when WWE's Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes an appearance as 'The Scorpion King' (the public liked the character so much that Universal spawned him off into his own feature film) in an epic battle that is awesome to watch. The special effects provided by ILM are once again top-notch, all except for the final sequence with a digital hybrid of 'The Rock' and a CGI scorpion, this scene looked a bit weak on screen. However, it's forgiveable since this would be an extremely difficult sequence to create, and with that ILM still manages to make the scene appear decent. The only other complaint I have regarding this movie would have to be that the movie seemed to focus a little too much on the 8-year old son Alex, his character is way too annoying and he's always present since he is partly responsible for the events in this movie. Aside from those complaints the rest of the movie is really enjoyable, and a very strong sequel to "The Mummy".I strongly recommend seeing this movie, but to fully enjoy the movie make sure you have seen the original film first."The Mummy Returns" is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sensuality.