The Mummy Returns
	Rated PG-13
	Runtime: 2hr 20min
	Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz , The Rock
	MFG Rating: 3/5

The Mummy Returns suffers from an acute case of sequelitis. It has a larger budget than the original and uses it for an abundance of special effects, and it tries too hard to be more than the original in every regard. They should have spent more money on the writers.

The movie starts off with a little history lesson about The Scorpion King (The Rock) which is needed since its an entirely new storyline. Seems that The Scorpion King was a mighty warrior some 5000 years ago who wanted to conquer the world in a bad way. Well, after waging war for 7 years, he lost, but he didn't give up. In a last ditch effort to save his hide he made a deal with a god for his soul if he could only defeat his enemies. Obviously, the deal was made or the movie would have ended right after the opening credits. Anyway, he won but lost his soul and gets to come back every 5000 years for another conquering spree.

Cut to 1935, 10 years after the first movie. Brendan Fraser is back as Rick O'Connell and he is now married to Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and they have a son, Alex. Circumstances work out so that they gain possession of The Scorpion Kings bracelet which has some pretty nifty powers. I'm really not giving anything away here, this all happens in the very first part of the movie, and I'm actually leaving some stuff out.

The plot is a little convoluted. Imhotep gets to come back to whoop some ass in a plot to kill the Scorpion King and take over his army, then use them to rule the world. The writers really worked too hard on this stuff and made it all seem quite silly when it didn't have to. Did you think Indiana Jones was silly? Didn't think so. Also, you know exactly how the movie will end within the first 20 minutes, and just in case you didn't pick up on the clue, they shove it in your face no less than 10 times throughout the movie. Sheesh, it's foreshadowing to the nth degree!

Yet I give the movie 3 stars for some pretty decent special effects, and some good fighting scenes. I didn't hate it, I just didn't like it very much. It squeaked by with that three star rating and even though The Mummy also got 3 stars, it was a much better movie.

- John

[an error occurred while processing this directive]