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I saw the
movie on opening day, May 4, 2001 with a group of 11 year-olds. We had
high hopes: everyone who survived 1999's The
Mummy (and even
a few who didn't) are back for the sequel. But there are some newcomers,
especially The Rock, who is featured as the Scorpion King. The addition of
this character shapes the plot of the new movie--and makes it more of a
scorpion than a mummy movie (which may disappoint mummy-lovers).
There are many
good bits, but while the first movie had lots of over-the-top campy humor,
the sequel seems
a little flat on humor, perhaps because there is no romantic tension
between Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn (Rachel Weisz). Now they are
married with Alex, their seven-year-old son, who makes faces whenever they
kiss (so does Jonathan, Evelyn's brother, in a much smaller role this
time; his lack of screen time is sorely missed, as is the presence of Beni, the hapless
servant of Imhotep who is not resurrected this time).
The movie
begins in 3067 B.C. when the Scorpion King aspires to rule Egypt. [Was
there really a Scorpion King?] The Scorpion King makes a pact with
Anubis, who creates the fictional (and very fake-looking) oasis of Ahm
Shere.
Jump ahead to
1933 where Rick and Evelyn are exploring a tomb
(with more cobwebs than an army of spiders could ever produce)--only
(surprise!) they are accompanied by their son Alex who usually does just
what his parents tell him ("Go build a better mousetrap"--and he
does!). They discover the bracelet of the Scorpion King (complete with the
uninspired curse: "He who disturbs this bracelet will drink from the
Nile" which is pretty much ignored by the screenwriter). Alex
locks the bracelet on his arm and sets "apocalyptic events" into
action: in seven days the Scorpion King will be awakened (if only The
Rock's acting ability could be awakened this quickly).
Meanwhile,
workers at Hamunaptra, led by the curator of Egyptology at the British
Museum and a woman who is the reincarnation of Anck-su-Namun, are feverishly engaged in digging up the remains of
Imhotep. They need the Scorpion King's bracelet to bring Imhotep back to
life...then he can take on the Scorpion King for the title, King of Egypt.
As they come
closer to Imhotep's body, a swarm of scarabs rises from the sand and
devours many of the workers (a good scene). When they eventually succeed in
locating Imhotep, they transport him to the British Museum in London.
One of the
brightest spots in the movie is the British Museum sequence (which is lit
by thousands of interior torches--where were the fire marshals?). It's one of the
few mummy-related
scenes. As the curator attempts to bring Imhotep back to life, he also
awakens other mummies in the BM's collection. These poorly wrapped mummies
(in real life, the BM's mummies are rather nicely wrapped) spring to life
and menace our heroes momentarily (only to be forgotten by the time the
director cuts to the next scene). Of course, the ensuing chaos manages to
destroy most of the BM, but who's noticing? Then there's a great bus ride on a
double-decker through London while our heroes are under attack by four of
the priest mummies that first appeared in 1999's The Mummy. This culminates in the kidnapping of Alex (who is still wearing
the bracelet).
Then the
action shifts to Egypt where Imhotep (now back to life) is headed.
Unfortunately, Imhotep is much less interesting in this sequel (we've seen his
tricks before, after all) than he was in the first movie. He regenerates
his skin apparently by sucking it off three stupid henchmen (again, five canopic jars are shown though it's not clear what they have
to do with his rebirth). Our heroes try to outwit him and regain their son
by getting to the pyramid of the Scorpion King first. They hitch a ride on a
Magic Carpet dirigible (way too much like Peter Pan meets the Lego Time
Travelers). Imhotep tries to attack our heroes with a wall of Nile water
(too
similar to the sandstorm effect in the first movie--and not as visually
effective).
There are some
good thrills and plot twists at the end (mostly involving Evelyn) which I
will not give away. My young companions thought the movie was better than
the first, but then the sequel was clearly aimed at a younger audience (the
addition of Alex makes it more like Harry Potter conquers the Scorpion
King). This is, in effect, the dream movie of many 11-year-old boys. They really enjoyed the battle involving the pygmy skeletons
[which
I thought was the worst bit--too much like resurrected-Gremlins (i.e., the
movie) meet Indiana Jones and too much of an Indiana Jones rip-off]. They also enjoyed the final battle between the
pharaoh's warriors led by Ardeth Bey and
the army of Anubis
On the other hand, I thought
the final battle was a poor second to all of the
mummy fights at the end of the original Mummy movie-- the destruction
of the oasis at the end reminded me too much of the tornado in The Wizard
of Oz; I kept expecting to see Margaret Hamilton come flying by on her
bicycle). We all agreed that the Scorpion King
sequence at the end (a fight to the finish involving Imhotep, the Scorpion
King, and Rick) was laughable (the virtual animation of The Rock was
very poorly done--The Rock kept morphing into Laura Croft with pinchers).
(And let's not even discuss The Rock as Actor . . . except that Universal
Studios seems to believe that he can bring home the dough: he's currently
filming a prequel: The Scorpion King.)
In brief:
On its own action-movie terms, the movie is an enjoyable thrill ride, so go and have a good time.
Just don't expect to get your mummy's worth.
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