THE MUMMY RETURNS

2001

This beautiful Masterpiece-Theater-like film is based on the classic book by... ooops, wrong movie! This mindless, action-adventure, summer-blockbuster, is based on absolutely nothing. It stars Brendan Fraser, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in his 5-minute screen debut, and endless millions of computer-generated stick figures. If you have fond memories of reading comics (I do,) or playing video games (I don't,) or just enjoying seeing Brendan Fraser do his self-parody, tongue-in-cheek adventure hero (I certainly do...no one does it better,) then this film is for you. Try not to pay much attention to the absurd story-line (involving a family of archeologists and 5000-year old warring armies,) which only gets in the way of the cheesy, but often spectacular special effects. The film owes a great deal to many films that came before it, (especially its immediate predecessor "The Mummy,") and it pays tribute to these films by spreading visual clues throughout. It's fun to spot the references to "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Star Wars," "The Ten Commandments," "Around the World in Eighty Days," and even "E.T.!" Go, expecting a fun film, with a silly story and one-dimensional characters, and you should have a good time.

3 Stars

NJB

Big on action, short on brains. Oh, its definitely summer movie season. In the latest installment of The Mummy franchise, the original plot is almost completely repeated with a few new changes. But what do you need plot for? There is so much fighting, jumping, running, driving, screaming and special effects in this film that it doesn't really matter. Actually, this might just be one of the first movies I've seen that really lives up to the action it promises in the trailer. But just how much is too much? THE MUMMY RETURNS really pushes that question. Brendan Frazier is yet again a goofy version of Indiana Jones and this time his now wife, Rachel Weisz, is a lot more "untamed." Both play their parts well, but my favorite is John Hannah as Rachel's greedy, cowardly brother. The addition of Frazier and Weisz's son (the film is set 10 years after the original) is actually a nice addition that adds some good comedic moments. As much fun as this film is, however, the ending betrays the original love story that is really at the heart of both films and I found that to be unforgivable. Rediculous? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Blockbuster? Duh!

2 Stars

CDF