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Dom Robinson reviews

The Mummy Returns

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cert:
Cat.no: UDR 90139
Running time: 124 minutes
Year: 2001
Pressing: 2001
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 18 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, Arabic
Widescreen: 2.35:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £24.99
Extras: Exclusive interview with The Rock, DVD-ROM: Unlock the secrets to the Scorpion King, Egyptology 101, Chamber of Doom virtual tour, Spotlight on Location featurette, Interactive visual and special effects formation, Theatrical and PS2 game trailer, Outtakes, Music video, Production Notes, Filmographies, Animated Menus, Audio commentary

Director:

Stephen Sommers

The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), Catch Me If You Can, Deep Rising, The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns

Producers:

James Jacks and Sean Daniel

Screenplay:
Stephen Sommers

Music:

Alan Silvestri

Cast:

Rick O'Connell: Brendan Fraser
Evy O'Connell: Rachel Weisz
Jonathan Carnaham: John Hannah
Imhotep: Arnold Vosloo
Ardeth Bay: Oded Fehr
The Scorpion King: The Rock
Alex O'Connell: Freddie Boath
Meela Nais: Patricia Velazquez
Baltus Hafez: Alun Armstrong
Lock-Nah: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Show Girl: Donna Air

The Mummy Returns had had its original cast signed up for this sequel as soon as filming wrapped on the first, once Universal smelled they had a hit on their hands, even though it was a bit lacking if you grew up on Indiana Jones movies.

The first difference is that this one is set ten years after the first, presumably so that the studio could add a 8-year-old Bart Simpson-style brat in the form of our heroes' son, Alex (Freddie Boath), whereas his parents, Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evy (Rachel Weisz), haven't appeared to, although they're both in their 30s now anyway.

A degree in Eyptology isn't required to understand the plot. Thousands of years ago a warrior by the name of The Scorpion King (a debut performance by WWF star The Rock) led an army, but when it came time to meet his maker his life was spared by a spiritual force in return for his soul. Now, the Scorpion King was forced to lead a new breed of army (cue plenty of snazzy CGI special FX), but one that could be instantly returned to the dust once their usefulness had expired, but also brought back at will when the time demanded it - say, about once every 5,000 years.

Now is that time and to dispose of him will take the combined efforts of Rick and his enemy from the last film, the Mummy himself: Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo). After the O'Connell's houses is raided by museum creator Baltus Hafez (Alun Armstrong), Lock-Nah (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, aka Adebisi from the excellent American HBO series Oz) and Meela Nais (Patricia Velazquez), the baddies capture Evy and they think they've also taken the bracelet of Anubis that belongs to the Scorpion King and will help bring about the apocalypse once he's raised too, but Alex has a trick up his sleeve, literally.

Also in the cast is John Hannah returning as Evy's brother Jonathan, extra help from Oded Fehr as friend of the O'Connell's Ardeth Bay and there's even a cameo for TV wannabe Donna Air as a showgirl.

Sadly, the censors have been at The Mummy Returns, slightly. The BBFC have cut the sight of a head-butt, a "dangerous imitable technique", for the 12-certificate version, even though the cut is obvious so you know one has happened and surely a head-butt is better than a murder? An uncut 15-certificate was available to the distributor so why not go with that when they so proudly stated that the first UK DVD was uncut on the front of the box and now this means that the boxset containing both films with all the extras - including an exclusive 2-disc special edition of the first film - will also suffer a censored second film.

Sadly too, while this is a moderately entertaining movie, it really does take the pain of being so unoriginal, just re-using many an element from last time - such as with Imhotep's face in water instead of a sandstorm - as well as others (I'm sure Freddie Boath was told to study the boy from Time Bandits, in not only the way that he talks but also the "Mum? Dad?" line of enquiry.

For those who want more, next up on the agenda is a prequel about The Rock's character, provisionally and simply titled, The Scorpion King.

box pic

The Ultimate Mummy Boxset in all its glory.

As with last time though, the film contains the film in the original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 and is anamorphic. The special FX are very similar to the first film but on a grander scale with more mummies about and huge armies. Jonathan Ross was right when he said that the animated undead armies look like they're taken direct from a Playstation 2 game, albeit minus any kind of jaggies.

The dialogue is in English alone and the soundtrack in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and the more impressive DTS 5.1, with the musical score responsibilities handed over to Alan Silvestri and the two hours of films has impressive sound effects galore from the haunting tones and dark atmosphere to sounds of shootings, explosions and, of course, the crystal clear dialogue.

film pic

Rick and Imhotep fight over who's the baddest mother...

All of the extras, bar the audio commentary and DVD-ROM material, are on the second disc even those most are quite short. I don't mind that the first disc only contains subtitles in English and Arabic, but the total of 20 chapters to the film is incredibly sparse. The full round-up of extras (with subtitles for themselves in Italian, Dutch, Spanish - and for a change on a Columbia DVD, English) are as follows.

Exclusive interview with The Rock (4 mins): A brief chat to find out what The Rock is cooking when it comes to what his character is really about.
The Scorpion King (2 mins): Exclusive preview trailer of the film that The Rock will have all to himself.
Spotlight on Location featurette (20 mins): You know what to expect here. 16:9 non-anamorphic film clips and chat from the main cast and crew members.
Visual and Special Effects Formation: How certain special FX scenes were put together, namely: the return of Imhotep, the attack by the Pygmy mummies, the Anubis warriors rising and the Scorpion King being revealed.
Egyptology 101: Time to learn something with text-based info on Mummification, King Tutankhamun, the animals of ancient Egypt, the myths and magic of the same and is the Scorpion King a myth or reality?
Outtakes (6 mins): A lot of You've Been Framed-style moments to a rock track in the background, all in non-anamorphic 2.35:1.
Music Video (4 mins): American rock group Live singing "Forever May Not Be Long Enough".
Chamber of Doom (3 mins): A shockingly pointless mock up of a theme park ride - at least I hope it's not real as it's so terrible. Oh no, it's actually a real one according to the end credit. Oh dear.
Audio commentary track: A feature-length commentary track from director Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay.
DVD-ROM elements: An interactive game ("Unlock the secrets to the Scorpion King"), screensavers, wallpapers and additional info about the movie.
Trailers: Almost a 2-minute trailer (non-anamorphic 2.35:1) for the film and a 60-second one for the Playstation 2 game.
Filmographies, Biographies and Production Notes: Brief biographies with accompanying filmographies are available for the main actors plus director Stephen Sommers, plus several pages of production notes giving background info to the film.

The subtly-animated menus evoke the atmosphere of an Egyptian tomb and have eerie music in the background with with nice transitions between the sub-menus.

film pic

Lawrence of Arabia - eat your heart out.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.

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