The Mummy Returns is a
2001 American
adventure film written and directed by
Stephen Sommers, starring
Brendan Fraser,
Rachel Weisz,
John Hannah,
Oded Fehr,
Patricia Velásquez,
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and
Arnold Vosloo. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film
The Mummy, which primarily took place in 1926, and is set seven years later in 1933 (one year after the
original 1932 film). Filming took place in
London,
Morocco, and
Jordan.
The Mummy Returns inspired the 2002 spin-off film
The Scorpion King which is set 5,000 years prior and whose titular character, played by
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), was introduced in this film. It was followed by the 2008 sequel
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Plot
In the
ancient Egyptian city of Thebes in 3067 BC, a warrior known as the Scorpion King led his army to conquer the city. However, the Scorpion King lost the campaign and his army was scattered into the desert of Ahm Shere. One by one they died of heat exhaustion, leaving only the Scorpion King. To survive, the Scorpion King swore an oath to the god of the underworld,
Anubis, exchanging his soul for the power to defeat his enemies. Anubis granted his wish, creating an
oasis to hide the Scorpion King's pyramid and giving him the Army of Anubis (an endless legion of demonic
anthropomorphic jackal-headed warriors) to exact his revenge. The Army of Anubis swept across Egypt, destroying everything in their path, and once their task was finished Anubis claimed the Scorpion King's soul.
About 5,000 years later, in 1933, Evelyn and Rick O'Connell are exploring another pyramid with their son, Alex. Within, they discover the Bracelet of Anubis. As Rick and Evelyn narrowly escape drowning after reading an inscription with the bracelt, Alex encounters three looters who flee after the walls start to collapse. Alex then causes a number of the pillars to collapse, helping his mother and father escape. Back in
London, their son Alex puts the bracelet on, providing him with directions to the oasis of Ahm Shere. It being the year of the Scorpion, Alex has seven days to reach the oasis, at which point the Scorpion King and his army will reawaken. Alex is captured by an Egyptian cult who have resurrected
Imhotep: their purpose for doing so is to use Imhotep's power to defeat the Scorpion King, which would give him command of the Army of Anubis. The cult, led by Baltus Hafez, the
curator of the
British Museum, includes a psychopathic warrior named Lock-Nah and Meela Nais, the reincarnation of Imhotep's love Anck-su-namun. The O'Connells set out to rescue Alex, accompanied by Ardeth Bay, and Evelyn's brother, Jonathan. Rick's associate Izzy, an
airship pilot from his past adventures, provides transportation.
The instructions are given to Alex in stages, and he leaves clues to the next location for his parents to find, and Ardeth sending a message to a growing army of Medjai, intended to stop the army of Anubis as it awakens. Along the way, the O'Connells learn of their connections to Imhotep and the Scorpion King himself: in a past life, Evelyn was Nefertiri, daughter of
Seti I and protector of the Bracelet of Anubis. Rick is a
Medjai, trusted to protect Evelyn. Together with their son Alex, who is the path to Ahm Shere, they make up the three sides of a pyramid. In the meantime, Imhotep brings Anck-su-namun's soul back from the underworld and places it in Meela's body, restoring her completely.
As the two groups arrive at the oasis where the Scorpion King's temple lies, the cultists are attacked by mummified pygmies and ambushed by Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan, and Ardeth Bey. The cultists are all killed with the exception of Hafez, their leader. Lock-Nah is then killed by Ardeth, who leaves the group to command Medjai army. Rick saves Alex and manages to get him to the pyramid moments before the bracelet can kill him, and Alex is able to remove it. However, when Jonathan and Evelyn catch up, Anck-su-namun walks into the pyramid courtyard with Imhotep and kills Evelyn. Hafez takes the bracelet and uses it to release the Army of Anubis, whom the Medjai engage in battle.
Imhotep's powers are stripped from him by Anubis, forcing him to fight the Scorpion King as a mortal. Rick enters the temple as Imhotep summons the Scorpion King, now in the form of a half-human, half-scorpion monster. Imhotep feigns allegiance to the King, who then focuses his wrath on Rick, killing Hafez when he stumbles in. Meanwhile, Jonathan distracts Anck-su-namun while Alex uses the Book of the Dead to revive his mother. Evelyn engages in a battle with Anck-su-namun. At the same time, Ardeth and the remains of the Medjai army defeat the first wave of Anubis warriors, only to discover what they fought was only the
vanguard, and now the full force of Anubis' army is bearing down on them. Outnumbered, the Medjai prepare to make their
last stand.
Rick's battle is going badly, but sees a series of illustrations on the walls depicting a person sharing the mark on his wrist. The illustrations reveal that the Scorpion King can be killed by the Spear of
Osiris, which Jonathan has been carrying throughout the film. Although Jonathan's attempt to throw the spear results in Imhotep catching it and nearly delivering the blow himself, Rick is able to intercept it and stab the Scorpion King himself. He orders him (and his army) back to the underworld, turning both the Scorpion King and the Army of Anubis into sand, seconds before they hit the Medjai lines.
Rick and Imhotep race to escape the now-collapsing temple. A chasm leading to the underworld appears, and Rick and Imhotep fall in, barely managing to cling onto the edges of the opening. Evelyn enters the room and manages to save Rick, but Anck-su-namun is unwilling to do the same for Imhotep. Shocked and heartbroken, Imhotep willingly casts himself into the chasm; meanwhile, as she flees, Anck-su-namun accidentally falls into a pit of flesh-eating scorpions. The family climbs to the top of the pyramid and meet up with Izzy. They escape unharmed and with a massive diamond that Jonathan pulled from the top of the pyramid. The film ends with the group setting off into the sunset, a grateful Ardeth bidding them farewell from afar, and Jonathan and Izzy arguing over who should keep the diamond as they leave.
Cast
[
returns.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Rick O'Connell ([[Brendan Fraser]) battles Imhotep (
Arnold Vosloo]]) in the pyramid of the Scorpion King.
Reception
The film was a
box office hit in 2001, earning more money than the first movie. Previously,
Stephen Sommers directed
Deep Rising,
The Jungle Book, as well as
The Mummy. His next film was
Van Helsing in
2004.
Critical reaction was mixed.
The Mummy Returns currently holds a 47% "Rotten" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes, based on 131 reviews.
reported, based on 31 reviews, an average rating of 48 out of 100.
of the
Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars (out of four), saying that "The mistake of
The Mummy Returns is to abandon the characters, and to use the plot only as a clothesline for special effects and action sequences."
of ReelViews gave the film two and a half stars (out of four), calling it "hollow, lightweight entertainment—not unpleasant, but far from the summer's definitive action/adventure flick.
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, praising its "constant plot turns, cheeky sensibility and omnipresent action sequences."
Todd McCarthy of
Variety praised "the nonstop action of the final hour," saying that it "bursts with visual goodies."
Joe Morgenstern of the
Wall Street Journal gave the film a negative review, saying that it "has all of the clank but none of the swank of the previous version."
Charles Taylor of
Salon.com was also not impressed, calling
The Mummy Returns "everything the first
Mummy was fun for not being."
Box office
The Mummy Returns proved to be even more successful than the first installment; on its opening day the film earned $24,134,667. The films grossed $202,019,785 in the United States and Canada box offices and $230,993,489 elsewhere, totaling in $433,013,274 worldwide.
Soundtrack
The
soundtrack to
The Mummy Returns was released on May 1, 2001 by
Decca Records. It contains the score composed and conducted by
Alan Silvestri, and the song "
Forever May Not Be Long Enough" by the rock band
Live. The version featured on the soundtrack differs slightly from the album version of the song.
Video game
The Mummy Returns video game was released on the
PlayStation 2 on October 4, 2001 and
Game Boy Color on May 11, 2001. On the PlayStation 2 version, the player can choose to play as Rick, with the game ending similar to the movie, or Imhotep, with him taking control of Anubis's army.
