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Film Review - The Mummy Returns
6 years ago
Not done one of these in a while. Go go gadget review!
I don't know how I feel about Teh Mammy Returns. There's a lot I like about the film, but a few things I don't that bother me more than they should. My dislike of many of these things make me a hypocrite. I guess the best I can do is to try to be honest.
The plot of the film is basically a rehash of the first. Imhotep has been resurrected, the heroes have to stop him. This time he's trying to take over the army of The Scorpion King for reasons. I can overlook most of the minor plot holes like him being an all powerful sorcerer in the first film but now he needs an army. What I can't overlook is the inclusion of an annoying kid character. Seriously, has this "Let's have an annoying brat so kids will like the film" ever got kids to like a film they otherwise would've hated? Even as a kid I hated these kinds of characters. To their credit, he isn't as annoying as he could be, but he's still annoying.
I did like the villains henchman that IMDB says was called Lock-Nah. He's cool, intimidating, and the actor does well in the role. Though it could be I liked him because he wanted to kill the kid character. I find it strange he didn't go on to be an action star.
One thing I didn't like story wise was the heroes are retconned to be reincarnations of Imhoteps previous foes. Evelyn being a rival to Imhoteps girlfriend, and Brendin Fraiser being a reincarnation of some kind of magi warrior. For Evelyn we get to see a flashback to her (or at least a body double) in few clothes doing an acrobatic sword fight which is nice. But I think overall the reincarnation plot detract from the film, because once "fate" and "prophesy" come into a film you might as well turn it off. Saying "you must fight because destiny" doesn't make sense from a writing standpoint either since the heroes have plenty of motivation to stop the villain. Their son was kidnapped and by the time they rescue him Imhotep is close to summoning an army to take over the world. And at over 2 hours long there was more than enough content to make the film work without it.
But let's talk about the elephant in the room. The action scenes and special effects. The action scenes I kind of liked. The fight with mummies on a double decker bus speeding through the streets of London being a highlight, but early 2000s CGI is rampant in this film to the point where it removes a lot of the tension. The big cgi version of The Rock as a giant scorpion being a common go-to example of bad cgi for good reason. On an artistic level the designs and effects look great, but they don't mesh with the film at all. This is another example of my hypocrisy because I like 80s practical effects, even if the monsters were oversized puppets and guys in floppy rubber suits. It's a shame because cgi can be used well. I'm still not sure if they hired lots of extras for this film, used cgi, or both, but there's no shortage of people running around during crowd scenes.
As I said at the start, I don't know how I feel about this film. Some scenes are great like the afore mentioned bus fight, but then something pulled me out of the film like the annoying kid character, bad cgi, or the reincarnation plot. It's not a bad film, but when I care little about what's going on I'm thinking about writing this review during what is meant to be an exciting fight scene, something has gone wrong somewhere. I guess it's not a bad film, but you aren't missing anything if you choose to skip it.
I don't know how I feel about Teh Mammy Returns. There's a lot I like about the film, but a few things I don't that bother me more than they should. My dislike of many of these things make me a hypocrite. I guess the best I can do is to try to be honest.
The plot of the film is basically a rehash of the first. Imhotep has been resurrected, the heroes have to stop him. This time he's trying to take over the army of The Scorpion King for reasons. I can overlook most of the minor plot holes like him being an all powerful sorcerer in the first film but now he needs an army. What I can't overlook is the inclusion of an annoying kid character. Seriously, has this "Let's have an annoying brat so kids will like the film" ever got kids to like a film they otherwise would've hated? Even as a kid I hated these kinds of characters. To their credit, he isn't as annoying as he could be, but he's still annoying.
I did like the villains henchman that IMDB says was called Lock-Nah. He's cool, intimidating, and the actor does well in the role. Though it could be I liked him because he wanted to kill the kid character. I find it strange he didn't go on to be an action star.
One thing I didn't like story wise was the heroes are retconned to be reincarnations of Imhoteps previous foes. Evelyn being a rival to Imhoteps girlfriend, and Brendin Fraiser being a reincarnation of some kind of magi warrior. For Evelyn we get to see a flashback to her (or at least a body double) in few clothes doing an acrobatic sword fight which is nice. But I think overall the reincarnation plot detract from the film, because once "fate" and "prophesy" come into a film you might as well turn it off. Saying "you must fight because destiny" doesn't make sense from a writing standpoint either since the heroes have plenty of motivation to stop the villain. Their son was kidnapped and by the time they rescue him Imhotep is close to summoning an army to take over the world. And at over 2 hours long there was more than enough content to make the film work without it.
But let's talk about the elephant in the room. The action scenes and special effects. The action scenes I kind of liked. The fight with mummies on a double decker bus speeding through the streets of London being a highlight, but early 2000s CGI is rampant in this film to the point where it removes a lot of the tension. The big cgi version of The Rock as a giant scorpion being a common go-to example of bad cgi for good reason. On an artistic level the designs and effects look great, but they don't mesh with the film at all. This is another example of my hypocrisy because I like 80s practical effects, even if the monsters were oversized puppets and guys in floppy rubber suits. It's a shame because cgi can be used well. I'm still not sure if they hired lots of extras for this film, used cgi, or both, but there's no shortage of people running around during crowd scenes.
As I said at the start, I don't know how I feel about this film. Some scenes are great like the afore mentioned bus fight, but then something pulled me out of the film like the annoying kid character, bad cgi, or the reincarnation plot. It's not a bad film, but when I care little about what's going on I'm thinking about writing this review during what is meant to be an exciting fight scene, something has gone wrong somewhere. I guess it's not a bad film, but you aren't missing anything if you choose to skip it.
