For those that haven't seen the original film, please go back to my profile and read that first! The Mummy released back in 1999 was a great film. I know most people, and me occasionally being one of them think a lot of sequels to movies are rubbish, especially compared to their originals. But this is where The Mummy Returns, released only 2 years after the original in 2001, is different. I watched this the night after The Mummy in time to see the new release The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor on the big screen!

Like the first Mummy, there's a scene at the beginning of the film that's set 5000 years prior to the story you're actually going to be watching - this just informs you a little about a villain you'll see later on in the movie called The Scorpion King (in which there was a spin off movie called The Scorpion King a year later in 2002). This opening scene is set in 3067 BC in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes where a warrior only known to us as The Scorpion King leads his incredibly strong army to conquer the city - as most of these Ancient Egyptian leaders do! Luckily, for us and our fellow members of the Thebe Army, the majority of The Scorpion Kings army is killed, so he and his remaining soldiers retreat back into the desert of Ahm Shere. His only remaining soldiers die one by one from the obvious scorching heat and the lack of food and water, the not long after The Scorpion King was the only man left standing. He was slowing dying, so he decides to pray to the god of death, Anubis, and asks for his life to be exchanged for the power to defeat the soldiers of Thebes. He picked up a black scorpion that just happened to be running by his feet and ate it for a great oasis to form around him. He returns to Thebes with the Army of Anubis which looked like to me to be a never ending crowd of wounded soldiers.

From here, the story starts to develop really fast. The next thing we know, Alex is kidnapped by an unholy Egyptian who has once again resurrected Imhotep's Mummy, who of course was seen in the original movie. The reason behind this is so that they can use Imhoteps unbelievable powers to kill The Scorpion King, capture his army and take over the world. The O'Connell's set out to save their son; their small army consists of Alex's parents Rick and Evy, Evy's helpless but hilarious brother Jonathan, and some extra help from the Medjai warrior that appeared in the previous film, Ardeth Bay.

- Cast-

Evelyn "Evy" Carnahan-O'Connell is once again played by Rachel Weisz who was very unfortunately not in the latest film 'The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'. I saw the latest edition to the series earlier this week at the movies and can tell you now that without her it was no where near as good, even though Brendan Fraser and John Hannah were still in the film. Ms Weisz plays her character amazingly well again in The Mummy Returns and I still congratulate Stephen Sommers and James Jacks for choosing her to play the role of Evy.

Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun are still played by Arnold Vosloo and Patricia Velásquez, both who play their roles very well. Freddie Boath played Alex O'Connell, and for a young boy I must say that he read Ancient Egyptian incredibly well. The new villain, The Scorpion King, is played by world famous wrestler 'The Rock'. I can't really comment on his performance too much as to be honest I can't even remember a word he says. He doesn't appear all that much in the film, only the part where he is awaken, and not long after destroyed before taking over the world.

The soundtrack of The Mummy Returns is again available on CD - you can pick this up for just short of £10 from Play.com. Jerry Goldsmith composed the soundtrack for the first Mummy film, and fans say that the music in The Mummy was some of his best work. The same story is happening here, just with another composer! The music this time was composed by Alan Silvestri after Goldsmith turned the offer down to write music for the new hit film. He has a different approach to Goldsmith, but with 70minutes worth of amazing tracks to keep up with the pace of the fast, action-packed movie Silvestri did incredibly well, and his fans say it's some of his best work along with music for Cast Away and The Mexican.

The DVD of The Mummy Returns is a two disc blinder. It's packed full of features, including a DVD-ROM. The below features are all pretty self-explanotory so I won't bore you by blabbing on!

- Conclusion -