'The Mummy Returns,' but he needn't have bothered

Julien R. Fielding

When "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was released in 1981, generations were spellbound by the whip-wielding, fedora hat-wearing archaeologist Indiana Jones.

In 1999, writer and director Stephen Sommers tapped into some of that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg magic with his remake of "The Mummy."

And Rick O'Connell, the French Foreign legionnaire who inadvertently awakened a flesh-hungry mummy with a Napoleonic complex, had dash, flash and swash.

At last, some of us cried, we have an heir apparent.

But then Sommers tossed aside character development, a story line and common sense to produce the sequel - "The Mummy Returns."

Didn't he learn anything from "Raiders" disastrous sequel, "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom?"

"The Mummy Returns" takes up the story line 10 years later. O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), Evie (Rachel Weisz) and their tow-headed son, Alex (Freddie Boath), still are excavating for buried treasure. Only this time, they're looking for a bracelet that belonged to the Scorpion King (The Rock), a ruler who not only pledged his soul to Anubis but also planned to return in 5,000 years.

The bad guys, including a reincarnated Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velazquez) and a resurrected Im-Ho-Tep (Arnold Vosloo), turn up to claim the bracelet so they can command Anubis' legions and take over the world.

Car chases, dart-blowing pygmies, a dirigible, skin-crawling scarabs and predictability follow.

Many of these situations will seem familiar. Too familiar, in fact. In this case, twice around isn't twice the fun. It's four times the drag.

The problems with "The Mummy Returns" are numerous, and include a flaccid story line, which is almost impossible to summarize in a short space, and overbearing special effects, which, by the way, have very little special about them.

The film takes too long to get going, and once it does, nothing riveting happens.

The scorpion hybrid and mummy look fake, and, let's face it, creep factor has completely worn off.

The pygmies are just plain bizarre, thrown in because the studio had that much money to spare. The dialogue lacks any spark. The characters have dulled.

Further deteriorating the film was the fact that favorites such as John Hannah, who plays Evie's wastrel brother, and Oded Fehr, the mysterious desert warrior, were included but weren't given much to do.

Vosloo, who was such a jump-inducer last time around, is rendered ineffectual, at best. He's like a dragon without any fire left in his breath.

And Boath is adorable but takes away more than he adds. Can anyone say Short Round?

Furthermore, with this type of story, we know suspension of disbelief is required. But this much? After 10 years, no couple, particularly a married one, is this enamored. Bickering would have been welcomed and expected.

Other leaps include believing Evie not only is a reincarnated princess and the daughter of Anck-Su-Namun's murdered husband but also that Anck-Su-Namun is reincarnated and looks the same as she did all those thousands of years ago.

For fans of the Rock, arrive at the cinema on time, because he appears only in the first five minutes and the last five. (But then, you'll get more than enough when the spinoff television series, "The Scorpion King," hits the airwaves. Oh, the humanity.)

On the plus side, Alan Silvestri's music perfectly accompanies the action, and Adrian Biddle provides good lighting for the six non-CGI scenes.

"The Mummy Returns" kicks off the summer film season. Unfortunately, it's a rather limp and lackluster start.

'The Mummy Returns,' but he needn't have bothered was originally published in The Daily Nonpareil on 10 May, 2001. © Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil LLC