The Mummy Returns [VHS] [2001]

Archaeologists Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (Rachel Weisz) have tied the knot since the original movie and have an eight year old son, Alex, adorably played by Freddie Boath. While on an archaeological dig in Egypt, they recover a special, golden bracelet which conveys special powers to the person who wears it. Alex, not knowing this, puts on the bracelet which had, at one time, belonged to the Scorpion King, played by wrestler, The Rock.

Evie's brother (John Hannah deliciously reprises his original role) is mistaken for Rick, as mysterious emissaries try to kill him in an attempt to recover the bracelet on behalf of the evil Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo reprising his original role). As Evie and Rick continue to do battle against these evil, murderous emissaries, the mysterious and devastatingly attractive, Medjai warrior, Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr also reprising his original role), joins them in their battle against evil.

In this sequel, past and present collide, and reincarnation adds its own interesting, little twist to the plot. For my money, Oded Fehr walks away with the movie, as Ardeth Bay is such a compelling character: sexy, swashbuckling, and mystical, all rolled into one. He is definitely my favorite character. I hope that we will see even more of him in the next sequel. (Who are we kidding? Of course, there will be another sequel!)

The only negative thing that I have to say about the movie has to do with the animation of the Scorpion King at the end. It is too cartoonish. I found it jarring and distracting, as it did not seem to fit with the other graphics used throughout the movie, which were great. It made me give the movie four stars, rather than the five I would probably have given had this concept not been so annoying. It was unnecessary to have this cheesy looking animation, as it detracted from the movie and downgraded its overall quality.

Still, see this movie. It is escapism at its best, as well as pure entertainment.

Speaking of...

... the effects really are very diverse in this movie (in many different meanings of the word!) There are thousands of different effects shots to get your teeth into, from an enormous army of Magi, to an even enormous-er army of Anubis warriors, and a horde of pygmy mummies. All of these are incredibly impressive. HOWEVER (and Rock fans, I'm sorry) thr much-touted Scorpion King is, frankly, piss-poor. Thank-god it's only on-screen for about five minutes before going back to it's under-developed effects bin.

But to balance out the effects - and I know this goes against what I said about it being a bit thin on the ground plot wise - you DO have a bit more character developement. Do remember, I only said a BIT. On the one hand, you have Imhotep and Anksunamun's love affair (Patricia Velasquez, you are a FOX!!!); and on the other, you have Rick's fatherly attitude towards Alex (his chase through the forest to keep ahead of the sun-rise genuinely put me on the edge of my seat). OK< so the Evey-Anksunamun backstory was of the UBER-CHEESE, bit it was still really enjoyable on a hokey level. And, for those of you who love Neighbours - Pharoe Lou Carpenter puts in a brief cameo appearance, complete with beard.

So there we go. It's a loud, brash, no-brainer that consists of chases, fisticuffs, stomach-churning romance... and ok, the occasional moment that DOES make you frown and go "oh, COME ON" (see the EXTRA CHEESY shot of O'Connell grabbing the spear mid-air.) Still though, it's definately worth getting - for PAtricia Velasquez in a number of increasingly foxy getups as a basic reason - and as long as you don't expect it to be Kubrick-meets-Hammer, you'll love it to pieces.