Product: The Mummy Returns [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 1.0
The Dead Movie Returns
Writer-director Stephen Sommers succeeds in creating a sequel that is even worse than its predecessor. Another example of how outdated Hollywood cliches such as mummy stories should be left in their tomb undisturbed. With even less character development and plot than the original, this movie puts all its stakes on the dazzling special effects that are too absurd if not comically bizarre to be credible.The story now focuses on the Scorpion King (The Rock) who, after being dead for 5,000 years, comes to life again in the '30s to defend his newly discovered oasis from evildoers. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are back but married with a young son named Alex (Freddie Boath) to find the oasis before the antagonists.Bad acting and shallow characters are as numerous as grains of sand in a desert storm; suffocating the audience with forced expressions and contrived dialogue. The Rock seems more interested in embellishing himself in his first feeble attempts at acting outside of a WWF match than actually playing the role of his character. The movie reaches the absurd in how the characters go off on their "epic" adventure. A flying carpet discovered in a tomb or souk by accident would have been more credible than the ridiculous flying contraption used by the characters to reach their destination.If you want to laugh at how bad a movie can be, by all means, rent this movie. Again, a perfect demonstration on how long-dead story concepts should be kept in their Hollywood sarcophagi never to rise again. To bring them back to life and torment an audience ad nauseam is a curse indeed.