Review of The Mummy Returns (2001) by David G — 14 Jul 2017

Although this is a pretty flawed sequel and certainly inferior to the original, in the end it's not too bad. It has a good cast (contractually obliged to do it I presume since pretty much every character from the original is reprised) and boasts tons of exciting action and masses of spectacle.

It's just a shame that it's so by-the-numbers with every action movie cliche in the book wheeled out at one point or another, including the worst of the worst - the Child In Peril (tm) - a hopelessly annoying brat that exists purely to make stupid mistakes, get captured and make everyones lives more difficult.

Then there's the horrible misuse of the Mummy himself - Arnold Vosloo's Imhotep. Poor guy, the movie's named after him and he's reduced to little more than a spectator. The movie also doesn't do itself any favours by blowing its load so early - throwing so many villains, mummies and monsters at us in the opening stages that there's little left to get the blood pumping by the end - this is one area in particular that the original excelled in.

Alas the pressure that's inevitably on a sequel to one-up the original backfires again.