The Mummy Returns

''The Mummy Returns'' is a 2001 American adventure horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez, Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, and Dwayne Johnson in his film acting debut. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film ''The Mummy'' and was distributed by Universal Pictures.

''The Mummy Returns'' inspired the 2002 prequel film '' The Scorpion King'', a spin-off that is set 5,000 years prior and whose eponymous character, played by Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), was introduced in this film. ''The Mummy Returns'' was a commercial success despite mixed reviews.

Plot

In 3067 BC, the Scorpion King leads an army to conquer the world. However, they are defeated and exiled to the desert of Ahm Shere. The king vows to give Anubis his soul in return for the power to defeat his enemies, so an oasis and pyramid magically form, and he is given an army of warriors. The Army of Anubis sweeps across Egypt, but once their task is finished, Anubis claims the Scorpion King's soul and the army returns to the Underworld.

In 1933, Rick O'Connell and his wife Evelyn explore ancient ruins with their son, Alex, finding the Bracelet of Anubis. In London, the bracelet locks onto Alex, showing him a vision directing him to Ahm Shere. Evelyn is captured by an Egyptian cult who resurrect Imhotep with the ''Book of the Dead''; they wish to use his power to defeat the Scorpion King, giving him command of Anubis' army to conquer the world. The cult, led by Baltus Hafez, includes enforcer Lock-Nah and Meela Nais, the physical reincarnation of Imhotep's love Anck-su-namun.

The O'Connells set out to rescue Evelyn, with her brother Jonathan, who had gotten his hands on a mysterious golden scepter, and the Medjai Ardeth Bay.

Rick frees Evelyn and flees, but Alex is then kidnapped by Lock-Nah and forced to go to Egypt with the cult. The O'Connells pursue them, with Rick's associate Izzy. The bracelet gives Alex directions to Ahm Shere that the cult follows; Imhotep forces his cooperation by warning him that, if he doesn't enter the pyramids within a week, the bracelet will kill him. At each location, Alex leaves clues for his parents, who follow in Izzy's dirigible. Imhotep uses the ''Book of the Dead'' to summon Anck-su-namun's soul, her ''Ba'', in Meela's body, but by doing so, he unwittingly allows Evelyn to unlock the memories of her previous life as Princess Nefertiri, the bracelet's keeper and Pharaoh Seti I's favoured daughter.

At the edge of the Oasis, Imhotep realises they're being pursued so uses his magic to crash the dirigible; Izzy stays behind to repair it. By nightfall, the cult saw the dead people of history
have come to the Oasis as they have failed to invade Ahm Shere: like Roman legionnaires, and turn-of-the-century French Napoleon's troops, the O'Connells infiltrate the cult, but both groups are attacked by pygmy mummies. Rick retrieves Alex while Ardeth kills Lock-Nah. They escape the pygmies, who kill all the cult members except for Hafez, Imhotep, and Anck-su-namun. The O'Connells arrive at the pyramid just in time as the sun rises, and the bracelet detaches from Alex. Anck-su-namun, Imhotep, and Hafez then arrive and kill Evelyn before entering the pyramid.

Inside the pyramid, Hafez puts on the bracelet, reviving the army, but in doing so loses the flesh from his forearm. Anubis takes Imhotep's powers, so he fights as a mortal. Rick finds Imhotep summoning the Scorpion King inside the pyramid and fights him. The Scorpion King, now an enormous half-human/half-scorpion monster, interrupts them, attacking Rick. At the same time, Ardeth and the Medjai battle Anubis's resurrected army outside.

While Rick and the Scorpion King fight, Hafez is caught in the melee and killed by the king. Jonathan and Alex steal the ''Book of the Dead'' from Anck-su-namun and use it to resurrect Evelyn, who confronts Anck-su-namun. When Rick discovers Jonathan's scepter is a mystical spear, he uses it to stab the Scorpion King, sending him and the army back into the Underworld.

As the oasis begins to destroy itself and the pyramid crumbles, Rick and Imhotep cling to the ledge of a pit that leads to the underworld. Rick implores Evelyn to escape before it is too late, but she risks her life to pull Rick to safety. Seeing this, Imhotep pleads for Anck-su-namun to do the same but she abandons him. Heartbroken, Imhotep lets go and falls into the underworld.

Meanwhile, the collapse of the pyramid causes Anck-su-namun to fall into a pit of scorpions, killing her. Izzy arrives with a modified dirigible and rescues the O'Connells just before the oasis and the pyramid are totally destroyed, though not before Jonathan swipes the pyramid's crystal jewel. They depart into the sunset, with Ardeth Bay saluting them before riding off.

Cast

* Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell
* Rachel Weisz as Evelyn O'Connell / Nefertiri
* John Hannah as Jonathan Carnahan
* Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
* Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay
* Patricia Velásquez as Meela Nais / Anck-Su-Namun
* Freddie Boath as Alex O'Connell
* Alun Armstrong as Baltus Hafez
* Dwayne Johnson as Mathayus of Akkad / The Scorpion King
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Lock-Nah
* Shaun Parkes as Izzy Buttons
* Bruce Byron as Red Willits
* Joe Dixon as Jacques
* Tom Fisher as Spivey
* Aharon Ipalé as Pharaoh Seti I

Music

''The Mummy Returns: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released on May 1, 2001 by Decca Records.

It contains the score composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri as well as a version of the song " Forever May Not Be Long Enough" by the rock band Live, which slightly differs from the song's album version.
A 2-CD expansion was released by Intrada Records in 2018.

Reception

Box office

''The Mummy Returns'' earned $23.4 million on its first day of release, then made $26.8 million the day after. This made it the highest Friday and Saturday grosses, surpassing both ''Toy Story 2'' and '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' respectively. Later that year, those records were simultaneously given to ''Planet of the Apes'' and ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''. During its opening weekend, the film made $68.1 million, making it the then second highest opening weekend of all time, only behind ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park''. Moreover, it surpassed ''Hannibal'' to have the highest opening weekend for a 2001 film, joining '' Monsters, Inc.'', '' Rush Hour 2'' and ''Planet of the Apes'' to become one of the only four films of that year to make $60 million in their first three days of release. ''The Mummy Returns'' would remain in the number one spot at the box office for two weeks until ''Shrek'' took it.

The film grossed $202 million in the United States and Canada box offices and $233 million internationally, grossing over $435 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2001.

Critical response

''The Mummy Returns'' received mixed reviews from critics. It currently holds a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's consensus states: "In ''The Mummy Returns'', the special effects are impressive, but the characters seem secondary to the computer generated imagery." Metacritic reported, based on 31 reviews, an average rating of 48 out of 100. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert, who awarded the first film three stars, gave the second film only two, 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." James Berardinelli 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."

Accolades

Home media

''The Mummy Returns'' debuted on VHS and DVD on October 2, 2001. It would become the fastest-selling DVD ever in the United States with 2 million copies being sold after its first week. This record would be taken by ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' just two weeks later. The film was subsequently released on the high-definition Blu-ray format in July 2008, and on UHD Blu-ray in 2017.

Sequel

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mummy Returns, The
2001 films
2001 horror films
2000s adventure films
2000s English-language films
American sequel films
American sword and sorcery films
Egyptian-language films
Egyptian mythology in popular culture
Fiction set in the 4th millennium BC
Films about child abduction
Films directed by Stephen Sommers
Films scored by Alan Silvestri
Films set in 1933
Films set in ancient Egypt
Films shot in Morocco
Films with screenplays by Stephen Sommers
The Mummy (franchise)
Seti I
Universal Pictures films
British Museum in media
Films set in museums
Films shot in Bedfordshire
2000s American films