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Most of you will have seen the Mummy, it was a superb film, action packed and something very fresh, and I guessed one of the reasons that I had put off watching this for so long was the worry that it would be nowhere as good.
I often find sequels a let down and often find they can not ... Read review
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Advantages: Action packed,excellent special effects,good all round viewing. Disadvantages: Quite similar to the first one, not quite as gripping.
...viewing quality, so did The Mummy Return manage to achieve this or not?
THE STORY
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Well being an oldish film I will boldly tell you something of the story, well not all of it, but enough to give you the idea….
8 years have passed supposedly since the last adventures of the O’Connell’s, Rick and Evie now have an 8 year old son called Alex and reside in a grand mansion in good ... ...resist their Egyptian travels and the latest venture involves them bringing home a large cask complete with a gold bracelet belonging to the new sinister force “The Scorpion King”.
Meanwhile in The British Museum, our old friend “Imhotep” is being given a makeover, yes he’s back, courtesy of a band of rogues and his old Egyptian bit on the side Ancksunamen, a lovely female not! However at this point she is only the shell of his lover ... more
Well this is a film that I have actually wanted to see for ages, but somehow never got round to. So when I was flicking through Sky last night and saw it was now on Box Office, there was no excuse….
Most of you will have seen the Mummy, it was a superb film, action packed and something very fresh, and I guessed one of the reasons that I had put off watching this for so long was the worry that it would be nowhere as good.
I often find sequels a let down and often find they can not keep up the standard or viewing quality, so did The Mummy Return manage to achieve this or not?
THE STORY ¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•
Well being an oldish film I will boldly tell you something of the story, well not all of it, but enough to give you the idea….
8 years have passed supposedly since the last adventures of the O’Connell’s, Rick and Evie now have an 8 year old son called Alex and reside in a grand mansion in good old London.
Of course they still cannot resist their Egyptian travels and the latest venture involves them bringing home a large cask complete with a gold bracelet belonging to the new sinister force “The Scorpion King”.
Meanwhile in The British Museum, our old friend “Imhotep” is being given a makeover, yes he’s back, courtesy of a band of rogues and his old Egyptian bit on the side Ancksunamen, a lovely female not! However at this point she is only the shell of his lover and it is not till later on she is returned fully to her former glory, so watch out!.
Of course nothing runs smoothly in the O’Connel household and it is not long before their son Alex finds the Scorpion King’s bracelet stuck on his arm, unfortunately Imhotep and his lovely lady friend also have designs on it.
The outcome of this is a mad chase through London; the O’Connell’s in a Double Decker bus driven by Evies dumb brother Johnathan, whilst being pursued by a host of Imhoteps evil wall climbing skeletal warriors….
Without giving too much more away the family end up back in Egypt not only to save their son but also the world from the evil forces of the undead…
Egypt this time is the setting for the lair of The Scorpion King (played by WWF ‘s The Rock), this guy makes old Imhotep look like a pussy cat, he has been frozen in time for thousands of years only to be accidentally released, his power and strength are such a force that even Imhotep couldn’t compete.
As if this wasn’t enough the Scorpion King has plenty of sidekicks, his army of thousands of Anubis canine warriers for one and the carnivorous pigmy mummies that lurk everywhere in the undergrowth, (these actually look like a meaner version of gremlins,hehe).
The O’Connell’s and their old trusty desert warrior pal Ardeth Bay have certainly got their work cut out this time with not one but 3 of the un-dead creatures to combat.
So that’s the basic idea of the film, but how good was it?
VERDICT TIME ¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•
Well this film actually started off pretty slowly, I also felt that there were a lot of odd flaws in the actual plot, possibly they were to pad the film out to make it more interesting, or to add a bit of variety but still seemed odd to me, here are three that puzzled me slightly..
1.As I said this is supposed to be 8 years later in 1933, and indeed they have their 8 year old Alex to back this claim up, but,Evie and Rick do not look a day older than they did in the first film, and come on 8 years is a long time!
2.Evie is the second mystery and indeed the third, but this one first, suddenly she starts having flashbacks to her previous life and surprise surprise she actually was one of them.
Yes an Egyptian, but not any Egyptian, in fact the daughter of the Pharaoh who should have married good old Ancksunamen no less and even in their previous life there was no love lost between them. Very strange there was nothing mentioned in this respect in the first film, but like I said it adds meat to the sandwich so to speak.
3. As I said Evie again, with the help of these flashbacks, she somehow has transformed from meek, polite, almost prudish Evie into bold mean fighting machine, a total character change personality wise for this lady, but why?
Well those are my “what, why, how’s”, now back to the film.
Lots more special effects and camera trickery, improved computer generated beasties and the old favourites too.
This ensures that whatever you think of the film overall you will be impressed with the effort they put into making it look as realistic as possible.
Performance wise, no Oscar winning performances here I’m afraid but credit where credit's due they are all good actors, then again any film with Brendan in has to be worth watching as he’s certainly easy on the eye, for the males out there I expect most of you will find Rachel pretty pleasing too!.
The humour is integrated throughout courtesy of Evie’s brother Johnathan and also courtesy of the mad air ship pilot Izzy Buttons, this adds a light relief to the film, making it less serious or heavy.
However If I had to give an award for actor of the film it would go to Imhotep, this guy is superb and fits his role perfectly, whoever chose him certainly got it right!
The Rock, hmm, I guess he was added to create more interest, but his role certainly isn’t over demanding by any means, in fact very disappointing, I believe there is even a spin off from this called “The Scorpion King”, this one I very much doubt I will bother to see!
CONCLUSION ¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•
This films great for an evening in, easy to follow with plenty of swashbuckling action throughout.
However there is a tinge of disappointment from me, why?
Well for me it is far too similar to the first film, actually a scrambled re make more or less.
Apart from the Scorpion King and the O'Connell's son not a lot had changed, there were the same characters, the same creatures and the same outcome more or less, but this one didn’t seem to even build the suspense half as much as the first and was actually quite predictable from early on.
This films certainly not the best I have seen this year by any means but it’s good fun overall and extremely well made.
But don’t let me put you off, I still recommend you give it a view, if you did like the first then you will certainly enjoy watching this one,!
So if you have Sky check it out on Box Office now….
CAST ¤•¤•¤•
Brendan Fraser - Richard 'Rick' O'Connell Rachel Weisz -Evelyn 'Evie'CarnahanO'Connell/Princess Nefertiri John Hannah - Jonathan Carnahan Arnold Vosloo - Lord Imhotep Oded Fehr - Ardeth Bay Dwayne Johnson - The Scorpion King Freddie Boath - Alexander 'Alex' O'Connell Patricia Velazquez - Meela Nais/Anck-su-namun Alun Armstrong - Baltus Hafez, the British Museum Curator Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Lock-Nah Shaun Parkes -Izzy Buttons Bruce Byron - Red Joe Dixon (III) - Jacques Tom Fisher (I) - Spivey Aharon Ipalé - Pharaoh Seti I
Advantages: some good fighting sequences, eerr, that's about it! Disadvantages: too much to jot down.. bigger but definitely not better!
...yet!) Here goes!
The Mummy Returns: the review:
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Hollywood has a trend of making movie sequels that achieve huge success at the box office. Most fail because they can't produce the magic the second time. However, there are sequels that prove to be better than the original where the filmmakers took the sequel in a completely new direction, making sure that they are not simply rehashing the same formula. Films like ... ...first encounter with the evil mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo); adventurers Rick O'Connor (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn Carnahan or Evie (Rachel Weisz), are now happily married with a son, Alex (Freddie Boath). While many families choose to have their holidays on sunny beaches or somewhere, this family unearths Egyptian mummies and artifacts for leisure. Trouble, however, is lurking around the corner when they located a bracelet that bears the power to ...
pakalang 26.08.2001 (28.08.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mummy 2, The - The Return
Advantages: Great fun and really entertaining Disadvantages: None if you simply sit back and enjoy it, lots if you pick holes in the plot
...were going to watch The Mummy Returns. Now don’t get me wrong I like some elements of Indiana Jones and his adventures, but to me this film held no interest. I thought of not going, nah that would be lame, how about convincing everyone to watch something else?
So there I am in my very nice and comfortable blue chair with plenty of legroom. I was really impressed by the Warner Bros. cinema and will go there again, oh yeah, back to the film.
... ...I never watched The Mummy and never really felt I was missing out on much there, having read a few reviews on it saying how bad it was. Well the first thing I need to say is that it doesn’t matter at all if you have seen the first film at all. I assume it would allow you to get a few of the references to the first film, but I pretty much figured out what they were on about really easily.
If you are a big fan of history and Egyptian myth and ...
Dogbert 24.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mummy 2, The - The Return
...is Aliens 2.
Brendan Fraser, who is starting to become a major blockbusting star, returns to his role as swashbuckling Rick O’Connel. Since the first movie he has managed to marry Evie (played by beautiful and talented Rachel Weisz) and also managed to produce a son and heir to his vast fortune that he has gained from his adventuring. We find ourselves at their Stately home in England as this movie moves some of the action ... ...the Scorpion King, have the Mummy defeat him, thus gaining control of the army of Annubis. Lost? Me too!
What follows is a frantic race against time as the O’Connels attempt to follow their son (he is his father’s son, escapes once, and manages to leave clues along the way.). Highlights include and excellent double-decker bus chase, with some super duels, some great computerized animation (including The Rock as a scorpion) and a clever ...
Simoncook1 09.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mummy 2, The - The Return
...CD DVD pack of The Mummy Returns from Santa for Christmas. If you have not seen the first film then you may have problems, as all the people have been set out. Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) is an action hero, very athletic good shot and tends to save the day. He is married to Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) whom he met in the first movie. Now moved from a wannabe Egyptologist to a fully fledged one with a curious mind and a tendency to get in trouble. ... ...other day, based on The Mummy Returns loosely but clearly set on for a whole series. Another spin off, all the characters were there, seemed good enough though I am far too old for things like that (!) Anyway I have very little complaints about the film, for a sequel it was very good. All the good characters were still there so you could relate a lot quicker and get on the action. There was lots of action, tense moments and all the thrills of the ...
Chris_Padden 09.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mummy 2, The - The Return
Advantages: Loud and simple, Donna Air Disadvantages: Over animated
The Mummy 2- The Return is a film about a mummy. During the film the aforementioned mummy returns. I hope this doesn't give too much of the plot away although it does leave me in a bit of a spot for where to go with the rest of this opinion.
I think I'll start again. I liked The Mummy 2- The Return. I'm not saying its a cinematic masterpiece that will change the way films are made forever, but its harmless enough as sequels go and definitely watchable.
... ...imaginative, although surprisingly in The Mummy 2 the mummy (Imho-tep) actually wins and ends up ruling the world. OK that's not true but it would have been a nice twist. First and foremost this is an action movie. If you enter the cinema with a sound knowledge of Egyptology and interest in archaeology you're probably going to leave disappointed, however if you are prepared to be treated as a bag of popcorn you and The Mummy 2 will probably get along ...
roons_y 08.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mummy 2, The - The Return
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director chuck russell
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cert 12
time 87 min
set five thousand years ago, the scorpion king tells of the ancient desert lands which are ruled by a vicious warlord called memnon played by steven brand who was in tv program 'heartbeat'
ruling by fear, memon relies on the prophecies of a sorceresswho advises him on how to approach every battle so that he never loses.
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Can the courageous assassin defeat memnon well to find out rent or buy the dvd now.
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Advantages: Action, Comedy and Romance in one film Disadvantages: Can't think of any
it didn't scare me at all.
Music Video - Live-forever may not be long enough
Outtakes - always funny as you then remember that actors make mistakes too
Visual & Special Effects - How the special effects were done, but to me this takes away the magic of the movie.
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I really enjoyed this DVD rather than a sequel it is more of a continuation of the story. The Egyptian references are also explained but in such a way that it keeps in with the film so you do not need a degree in Ancient Egypt History and can watch the film easily without being confused.
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Advantages: Pacino, the grandeur Disadvantages: Sofia Coppola, the retreaded theme
Sequels are notoriously ropy affairs - you get the awesome first in the class, then, buoyed by the huge audience and dollar signs, the makers set out to exploit the brand and follow up with a lacklustre second episode which somehow never captures the same magic quality that set its predecessor apart from the crowd. Go on, try and think of a half way decent follow up - I can think of a few, Aliens for definite, Batman Returns at a push and Jaws 2 in some respects, Godfather 2 (come back to that one). But that's about it, and for every masterpiece you get a thousand dire sequels, stuff like Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Damien: The Omen 2, Hannibal, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Predator 2, The MummyReturns, Free Willy 2 (except the original was no better) and 102 Dalmatians.
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