Review of The Mummy Returns (2001) by Clem666 — 09 Apr 2022

Clearly 'The Mummy Retourns' doesn't lie about being a lame sequel of the first movie. There are several metajokes about it in here. So don't expect the scenario to be different. I had no expectation for it but still got pretty surprised.

Special effects seem to be a big deal in this movie. I found they were very good at the beginning but yeah, not far from becoming more and more disgusting as the plot moves on. The more we get to the end, the more we witness surrealistic scenes. And there are numerous false connections. Characters don't stop to fast-travel even when they are in the same room. These facts tend to make me dislike 'The Mummy Returns'.

Dialogues remains as dumb and lifeless as in the first opus. Characters spend their time explaining the plot, reminding us who each protagonist is, trying to problematize the movie, emphazing the ridiculous drama of the situation. The kid specially is awful: his presence is the reason to showcase silly situations and lines. The couple Rick + Evelyn is terrible. They tried to make them seem like accomplices but it doesn't match at all. They spend their onscreen time kissing and licking each other. Each and every Evelyn appearance seems to be an occasion to make her look and sound hot and horny. At this point it is pretty lear to me that Sommers had some major fantasies about hot female archaeologists. His movie jus was not the best place to underline it. Evy's brother which I found terrific in the first movie is here one of the silliest and repelling character of all. He is just so one-dimensional, and his jokes always fall apart.

I have to admit though that this movie was highly entertaining. There are some fast-paced action scenes, some characters are well developped, and it becomes funny to see until which point were Sommers ready to go in order to surprise the spectator. It however felt endless. Let's watch it as a historical event of our times: it is the very first appearance of Dwayne Johnson in a movie. (At this point he iss still very close to be the most over-paid actor in the industry...