Dial "m" for more-of-the-same - The Mummy Returns Reviews

Brendan Fraser and friends stir up trouble in the sands of Egypt in this sequel to the 1999 box office hit in which THE MUMMY RETURNS. This time, a 1940s styled Battle Royale ensues when a shady cadre led by a museum curator (Alun Armstrong) conspires to resurrect an ancient warrior, played by professional wrestling's Dwayne Johnson (aka, "The Rock"). But, the old doer is so lethal that the would-be conquerors also revive The Mummy, villain of the first film (Arnold Vosloo), to keep the peerless warrior at bay. THE MUMMY RETURNS is good fun, especially if you know what to expect. Much of the action has the look -- and feel -- of a high-fi video game. We know that if we move out of the battle in this labyrinth, the battle in the next torch-lit temple and the grand finale in the maze-like oasis will be variations on the same theme. The movie is crowded with loud archetypical characters vying for our attention almost to the point of dramatic meltdown. In addition to the Mummy (Vosloo) and the Scorpion King (Johnson), there is the domination-bent curator (Armstrong), and Patricia Velazquez as the reincarnation of Imhotep (The Mummy)'s conniving femme fatale. In the opposite corner, we have Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, with John Hannah in tow, all returning from the first movie. This time around, they have a little assistant and sometime foil, their wisecracking kid, Freddy Boath (very good performance). There is also a dark, alluring character named Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr), who plays the true believer who functions as a bridge for the audience to buy the Mummy's Curse long before the first scarab beetles pour out of the desert sand. Ardeth Bay was the name that Inhotep used in the 1932 Boris Karloff movie after he was reanimated in the twentieth century. Here, the borrowed name serves as an anchor between this movie and the fun, campy monster films of the 30s and 40s. He is also reminiscent of the true believers in the Indiana Jones movies -- which were themselves an homage to the films of the 30s and 40s. The new MUMMY franchise Universal has established (the third movie is already filming) really has "risen" to the level of the horror serials of yore ("risen" in quotations because many believe the horror films of the 40s to actually constitute lesser specimens of a waning genre). Nevertheless, the cast appears to know exactly what to expect and they react to the obviously-computer-generated armies of humanoid jackals with all the hammy, campiness one would expect from a FLASH GORDON matinee reel. Patricia Velazquez as the cunning vixen strikes up even more sparks than the 'Sheenah the Librarian' act drummed up by leading lady Rachel Weisz. THE MUMMY RETURNS -- and, it's as much fun as you're willing to have with it. (Carlos Colorado)