The Mummy Returns ««
PG-13, 130m. 2001
Cast & Credits: Brendan Fraser (Richard 'Rick' O'Connell), Rachel Weisz (Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell/Princess Nefertiri), John Hannah (Jonathan Carnahan), Arnold Vosloo (High Priest Imhotep), Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bey), Dwayne Johnson (Mathayus the Scorpion King), Freddie Boath (Alexander 'Alex' O'Connell), Patricia Velasquez (Meela Nais/Anck Su Namun). Written and directed by Stephen Sommers.
The Mummy Returns disappoints on a number of levels but there is one particularly annoying moment I found that stands out above all the others.
The scene happens near the climax when archeologist Rick O'Connell, once again played by Brendan Fraser, battles the Scorpion King played by Dwayne Johnson, the World Wrestling Federation superstar also known as “The Rock.”
There is a reason why Johnson’s The Rock's character is called "The Scorpion King." Not because he is seen briefly in the film's opening monologue as a long haired, bare chested, muscle bound 5,000 year old warrior with perhaps the best looking white teeth I have ever seen (the Egyptians must have been great dentists) as he brandishes his sword and shield in triumph during battle.
He is called "The Scorpion King" because near the end, the character transforms himself into a giant sized walking scorpion, tail, claws and all with the exception of once again, that muscle bound chest of his and head which have been superimposed onto the creature via digitally enhanced special effects. I almost thought the guy was going to raise his one eyebrow like he does during every wrestling match.
As I looked closer, however, at the creature's human head and torso, I found the caricature didn’t even look like “The Rock” at all. He is a great big piece of fake eye candy that's a lot like the visual effects seen in The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) where the skin of the characters looks like it was painted over with pink wax.
I believe with it comes to digitized special effects, I should be led to believe the Titanic is sailing across the Atlantic and that Han Solo is stepping on Jabba the Hutt's tail in Star Wars: The Special Edition (1997).
I think the wonders of what computers can do today when it comes to movie making got the best of the special wizards who worked on The Mummy Returns. They worked so hard providing digital shots of holographic magical pyramids, canine armies, mummified pygmies and water that transforms into the face of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) (just like in the first movie except it was sand) that they forgot to make "The Scorpion King" look like a real monster.
That isn't all that's wrong with The Mummy Returns. Picture yourself watching the Indiana Jones trilogy but instead of spending six hours in front of the tube, you've managed to condense all three movies into one 130 minute film filled with nothing but action sequences and special effects minus a storyline and characters. There, in a nutshell, is what The Mummy Returns is.
The film's poster ought to have the saying on it, "We're back!!!" seeing since the entire cast, not to mention director Stephen Sommers who helmed the first one, all return for the second. That includes the crusting, rotting corpse of Imhotep who is once again reawakened and this time given the chance to rule the world with the help of the Scorpion King's army.
On hand to stop him again is egyptologist Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) who is now married to Fraser's O'Connell and have a son named Alex (Freddie Boath). There is also Evelyn's selfish, wimpy brother-in-law (John Hannah) and the mysterious desert warrior, or who I like to call "the Man In Black", Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) who seems to show up whenever there is danger and begins almost every line of dialogue with the warning, "It is written..."
The Mummy (1999) was, by no means a classic, but it was a fun, sometimes humorous popcorn movie that had the kind of story I could picture Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones immersing himself in (if a fourth movie were to ever get made).
The Mummy Returns, however, belongs not only on that list of never-ending follow-ups that have failed to deliver since the 1960s but on a new list that I call, "Unexpected Success Stories: Movies That Did So Well, We Just Had to Make A Sequel."
That list is endless and they include follow-ups to comedies (Airplane - 1980, The Blues Brothers - 1979), disaster movies (Airport - 1970, The Poseidon Adventure -1972), horror films (The Exorcist - 1973, Halloween - 1978, Scream - 1996), award winning dramas (Rocky - 1976, Saturday Night Fever - 1978), suspense films (Psycho - 1960, Silence of the Lambs - 1991) and brainless action adventure movies like The Mummy. All those movies had something in common. They weren't all critically acclaimed but they brought in millions of dollars at the box office.
The problem with the studio's batch of dismal follow-ups that now includes The Mummy Returns is the filmmakers forgot to include the two most important elements that made the originals work and as a result, brought in the crowds; a good story and memorable characters.
©9/26/01
PG-13, 130m. 2001
Cast & Credits: Brendan Fraser (Richard 'Rick' O'Connell), Rachel Weisz (Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell/Princess Nefertiri), John Hannah (Jonathan Carnahan), Arnold Vosloo (High Priest Imhotep), Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bey), Dwayne Johnson (Mathayus the Scorpion King), Freddie Boath (Alexander 'Alex' O'Connell), Patricia Velasquez (Meela Nais/Anck Su Namun). Written and directed by Stephen Sommers.
The scene happens near the climax when archeologist Rick O'Connell, once again played by Brendan Fraser, battles the Scorpion King played by Dwayne Johnson, the World Wrestling Federation superstar also known as “The Rock.”
There is a reason why Johnson’s The Rock's character is called "The Scorpion King." Not because he is seen briefly in the film's opening monologue as a long haired, bare chested, muscle bound 5,000 year old warrior with perhaps the best looking white teeth I have ever seen (the Egyptians must have been great dentists) as he brandishes his sword and shield in triumph during battle.
He is called "The Scorpion King" because near the end, the character transforms himself into a giant sized walking scorpion, tail, claws and all with the exception of once again, that muscle bound chest of his and head which have been superimposed onto the creature via digitally enhanced special effects. I almost thought the guy was going to raise his one eyebrow like he does during every wrestling match.
As I looked closer, however, at the creature's human head and torso, I found the caricature didn’t even look like “The Rock” at all. He is a great big piece of fake eye candy that's a lot like the visual effects seen in The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) where the skin of the characters looks like it was painted over with pink wax.
I believe with it comes to digitized special effects, I should be led to believe the Titanic is sailing across the Atlantic and that Han Solo is stepping on Jabba the Hutt's tail in Star Wars: The Special Edition (1997).
I think the wonders of what computers can do today when it comes to movie making got the best of the special wizards who worked on The Mummy Returns. They worked so hard providing digital shots of holographic magical pyramids, canine armies, mummified pygmies and water that transforms into the face of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) (just like in the first movie except it was sand) that they forgot to make "The Scorpion King" look like a real monster.
That isn't all that's wrong with The Mummy Returns. Picture yourself watching the Indiana Jones trilogy but instead of spending six hours in front of the tube, you've managed to condense all three movies into one 130 minute film filled with nothing but action sequences and special effects minus a storyline and characters. There, in a nutshell, is what The Mummy Returns is.
The film's poster ought to have the saying on it, "We're back!!!" seeing since the entire cast, not to mention director Stephen Sommers who helmed the first one, all return for the second. That includes the crusting, rotting corpse of Imhotep who is once again reawakened and this time given the chance to rule the world with the help of the Scorpion King's army.
On hand to stop him again is egyptologist Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) who is now married to Fraser's O'Connell and have a son named Alex (Freddie Boath). There is also Evelyn's selfish, wimpy brother-in-law (John Hannah) and the mysterious desert warrior, or who I like to call "the Man In Black", Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) who seems to show up whenever there is danger and begins almost every line of dialogue with the warning, "It is written..."
The Mummy (1999) was, by no means a classic, but it was a fun, sometimes humorous popcorn movie that had the kind of story I could picture Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones immersing himself in (if a fourth movie were to ever get made).
The Mummy Returns, however, belongs not only on that list of never-ending follow-ups that have failed to deliver since the 1960s but on a new list that I call, "Unexpected Success Stories: Movies That Did So Well, We Just Had to Make A Sequel."
That list is endless and they include follow-ups to comedies (Airplane - 1980, The Blues Brothers - 1979), disaster movies (Airport - 1970, The Poseidon Adventure -1972), horror films (The Exorcist - 1973, Halloween - 1978, Scream - 1996), award winning dramas (Rocky - 1976, Saturday Night Fever - 1978), suspense films (Psycho - 1960, Silence of the Lambs - 1991) and brainless action adventure movies like The Mummy. All those movies had something in common. They weren't all critically acclaimed but they brought in millions of dollars at the box office.
The problem with the studio's batch of dismal follow-ups that now includes The Mummy Returns is the filmmakers forgot to include the two most important elements that made the originals work and as a result, brought in the crowds; a good story and memorable characters.
©9/26/01
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