Review: Arise, Ray Harryhousen, ‘The Mummy Returns’

Geoff Carter

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

The Mummy Returns

Grade: THREE STARS

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr.

Screenplay: Stephen Sommers.

Director: Stephen Sommers.

Rated: PG-13 for violence, intense visual effects.

Running time: 125 minutes

Writer/director Stephen Sommers's very loose remake of the Universal horror classic "The Mummy" was released one week before "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" in 1999. It was billed as "The first special effects extravaganza of the summer!" and the studio hid its stars and story behind a giant screaming head made of sand.

The $414 million in worldwide receipts "The Mummy" went on to gross was remarkable when one considers the competition, Universal's unfortunate (but effective) marketing campaign and the film's inherent flaws -- hokey dialogue, an excess of computer-generated effects and embarrassing racial stereotypes for characters.

"The Mummy" had a few good points: Brendan Fraser's square-jawed performance as treasure hunter Rick O'Connell, Oded Fehr's underplayed Ardeth Bay, some of the visuals and that $414 million gross. Without the latter, you see, the vastly superior "The Mummy Returns" couldn't have been made.

While far from a classic, "The Mummy Returns" is a far more worthy summer film than its predecessor. Summers fixes every last mistake he made on his first pass at the tomb. Motivations are made more clear. The visuals are more in line with the story (though Sommers once again pours them on during the last reel, to the film's detriment). Rachel Weisz's doe-eyed Evelyn Carnahan -- now married to O'Connell -- is world-wise and tough, not shrill and bumbling. The wickedly funny John Hannah, misused in the first film, is used less here (there was no way to fix the character, apparently). And Oded Fehr's Ardeth Bay enjoys as much screen time as the principals -- and uses it wisely.

"The Mummy Returns" is easy to follow with eyes closed. You've seen it before, in "Clash of the Titans" or practically any "Sinbad" movie. It has the kind of monster-vs.-monster plot writers and directors would cook up just to incorporate the pioneering stop-motion effects of Ray Harryhousen. Harryhousen's imprint is all over "Returns" -- in the stuttering gait of the Annubis warriors, in the Mummy's (Arnold Vosloo) fearsome leaps and lunges and most notably in the Scorpion King (professional wrestler The Rock, not mute enough here), the insect-eating warrior whose impending reincarnation drives the plot.

Not that the plot matters any more than it did the first time out. "The Mummy Returns" is one terrific action sequence after another; it is a succession of relay runners and the audience is the baton. It's difficult not to enjoy Fraser and Fehr's impossible heroics, Weisz's tough sexiness, the beautiful locations in Morocco and Jordan, the comic relief (mostly in the person of the O'Connell's son Alex -- a fleet performance by Freddie Boath) and the parade of flesh-eating pygmies, dog-men warriors and screaming zombies that crash through the narrative every three minutes or so.

There will be objections. Internet gadflies will look for plot holes (and they'll find them), Arab groups will protest the lack of Arab actors (rightfully so) and Leonard Maltin will get a massive headache from the explosion of effects that close the picture (good thing, too). But they're watvching it the wrong way.

"The Mummy Returns" is a purebred summer entertainment, as light as 7-Up and as crunchy as a fistful of flesh-eating scarab beetles. It will save Sommers's reputation, make a star of Oded Fehr and entertain you despite yourself. Just go with the rest of the zombies and enjoy the first special effects extravaganza of 2001. Thank Harryhousen it's here.

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