HallowScream - The Mummy Returns (2001)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. After the success of 1999's The Mummy, it only made sense for Universal Pictures to produce a sequel. And, in 2001, director Stephen Sommers returned with The Mummy Returns, which saw the returns of Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez, and Arnold Vosloo, with newcomers including Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, Shaun Parkes, and Dwayne Johnson.

       The movie opens with the legend of the Scorpion King, a mighty warrior who once led a campaign to conquer the known world, only to be defeated by an opposing force, and sent the the harsh desert of Ahm Shere. One by one, the Scorpion King's men die from the heat, leaving only the mighty warrior himself. Close to death, the Scorpion King swears his soul to the god Anubis in exchange for the power to defeat his foes. Anubis accepts, and thus where once was harsh desert bloomed the great Oasis of Ahm Shere. Commanding Anubis' army of jackal-like warriors, the Scorpion King sweeps over the land and defeat his enemies, only for Anubis to claim his soul, returning the army to the Underworld. 

       We then jump to the year 1933, where it's been seven years since the events in Hamunaptra. Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan are now husband and wife, and they have a son named Alex. The family is exploring an ancient Egyptian tomb, where they uncover the Bracelet of Anubis, which was once worn by the Scorpion King. Returning home to London, Evy suggests that they check out the Oasis of Ahm Shere, while Alex messes with the Bracelet and it attaches itself to his arm. 

       Meanwhile, a team in the remains of Hamunaptra has located the Book of the Dead, the Book of Amun-Ra, and the remains of Imhotep. Among the team is Meela Nais, who is the physical reincarnation of Anck su Namun, and museum curator Baltus Hafez. And, of course, they set up shop in the British Museum, abduct Evy, and resurrect Imhotep. Rick, along with Evy's brother Jonathan and Ardeth Bay of the Medjai, rescues Evy, but Alex is kidnapped, as he can lead Imhotep and his new followers to Ahm Shere. 

     Aboard a train traversing through Egypt, Imhotep reveals that there is a time limit to reach Ahm Shere. You see, if Alex isn't in the pyramid at the center of the great oasis in a few days time, then the bracelet will kill him. Meanwhile, three bandits under the employ of Hafez recover the chest from the first movie, are forced to open it, and there life force is consumed by Imhotep, regenerating himself to full strength. Meanwhile, Rick takes Evy, Jonathan, and Ardeth to an old friend named Izzy, who is initially reluctant to help, the last time he worked with Rick, Izzy took a bullet to the ass. But, he agrees to help with the promise of a golden scepter that Jonathan has found previously. As for Izzy's mode of transportation? Instead of a plane, it's a dirigible. Nice. 

     The rest of the movie sees Rick, Evy, Izzy, Jonathan, and Ardeth following the path of Imhotep, finding a clue left behind by Alex, and guiding them to the Oasis of Ahm Shere. And, of course, Imhotep uses the Book of the Dead to restore the soul of Anck su Namun in the body of Meela, which has the side effect of reawakening the memories of Evy's past life as Princess Nefertiri, daughter of Pharaoh Seti I, and guardian of the Bracelet of Anubis. In addition , we learn that a tattoo Rick has signifies that he is one of, or at least has ancestral ties to, the Medjai. And, when it's apparent that Rick and the others are close, Imhotep uses his power to create a wall of water, and bring the dirigible down. And, after an epic chase between the dirigible and the wall of water, the dirigible does fall. 

      After a trek through the vast jungle, Rick catches up with Alex, who catches him up on what's going on. Rick rushes Alex into the pyramid just as the sun hits it, and the bracelet detaches itself from Alex. Unfortunately, Evy takes a blade strike and dies, while Rick goes after Imhotep and Ardeth leaves to join the gathering tribes of the Medjai. And, Jonathan and Alex decide to use the Book of the Dead to resurrect Evy, leading to a showdown between her and her ancient rival Anck su Namun.

      Inside the pyramid, the gods strip Imhotep of his immortality, Hafez uses the bracelet to summon both the Scorpion King and the Army of Anubis, and Rick has one final showdown with Imhotep, which includes a faceoff with the Scorpion King. And, yeah let's talk about that. You see, at the start of the movie, we physically see Dwayne Johnson as the Scorpion King. But, in this scene, he's replaced with a poorly rendered digital double, and is a weird human/scorpion hybrid monster thing, and the voice is modulated to sound nothing like Dwayne himself. And, yeah, it didn't look good then, and it doesn't hold up at all. And, people say TODAY'S CGI looks bad. Nah, the CGI Scorpion King monster looks way worse. 

      Anyway, while Rick is fighting the Scorpion King, Ardeth and the Medjai are fighting insurmountable odds against the Army of Anubis. However, upon realizing the golden scepter that Jonathan was carrying was the mythical Spear of Osiris, Rick uses the extended spear to impale the Scorpion King, killing him and sending the Army of Anubis back to the Underworld. Luckily, before falling into a crevasse leading to the Underworld, Rick is saved by Evy, Alex, and Jonathan, but Anck su Namun refuses to save Imhotep and runs away, falling to her death in a pit of scorpions. Heartbroken, Imhotep acknowledges the O'Connell's and falls into the crevasse. 

      The O'Connell's hurry to the top of the pyramid just as the Oasis is being sucked back into it, returning the Desert of Ahm Shere to its original state. But, luckily, Izzy arrives and rescues the O'Connell's, with Jonathan grabbing the gem from the top of the pyramid just before it's sucked into the sand. Down below, Ardeth acknowledges his friends, as the O'Connell's and Izzy fly off into the sunset. 

      While most fans agree that The Mummy was awesome, they also agree that The Mummy Returns was less so. Not terrible, per se, but certainly more spectacle than narrative. The returning cast were all great, and a did enjoy a couple of the new additions to the cast. And, I liked the idea that, even though they were on opposing sides, Imhotep and Rick still had a mutual adversary: the Scorpion King. And, shitty CGI aside, the concept behind the character of the Scorpion King was pretty cool, and led Universal to produce a spinoff called The Scorpion King, which itself was followed by a series of direct-to-video movies.  A major change comes from the music score, which sees Alan Silvestri take the reigns from Jerry Goldsmith. Aside from that, it was neat seeing various ancient sites across Egypt, including Karnak and Abu Simbel. So, for his second outing with The Mummy franchise, I didn't dislike what Stephen Sommers did with this one, but I still see it as a step down from the previous film. 

     Anyway, this is Chuck signing off, and HallowScream continues next with Goosebumps.