Plot: What’s it about?
Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (Rachel Weisz) have defeated the powerful Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) once, but the old bones don’t want to remain buried it seems. After ten years of marriage and a young son Alex, Rick and Evie have moved on to other things, but the memories of their past adventures have never left them. As they search for relics in an excavation site, Rick and Evie are unaware of what they’re about to discover, as well as who else is looking for the item. The piece is a powerful bracelet, which once belonged to the powerful Scorpion King (The Rock). It is said the bracelet can summon the return of The Scorpion King and if he is somehow defeated, the victor can assume control of his armies. This means the forces can be sent back to the realm of the dead or used to control the entire world, whichever the winner decides to do. And of course, if The Scorpion King should win, he would demolish all people in his path to world domination. As it turns out, a group of people wish to summon The Scorpion King and then have him defeated by Imhotep, perhaps the only force that has the needed powers. So once again, Rick, Evie, and the others have to save the world, but it won’t be as easy this time around…
After the massive success of The Mummy, a sequel seemed natural, but I doubt people expected one that would improve upon the original. I know I didn’t, but The Mummy Returns seems to have all the positive elements from the original, plus the stakes have been raised on all counts. All the important cast members return to their roles, which is vital to a picture like this one, while professional wrestler The Rock is the new player in town. This sequel follows the same formula as the original, which means lots of action, humor, and of course, some romance tossed in, just for good measure. The set pieces and action sequences more than match The Mummy and often surpass it, which is a real compliment to this picture. You’ll see a lot of computer graphics with the special effects, but it usually looks very good, with some exceptions. As before, there is some humor injected that helps achieve an almost camp feel, which I think suits the material very well. I liked this movie a lot and while it not high art, it offers one heck of an adventure, which is enough. Although I think an Ultimate Edition could be in the pipes sometime down the road, I think this Collector’s Edition offers a nice value, so don’t hesitate to check it out, if you’re interested.
Back once again as adventurer Rick O’Connell is Brendan Fraser, who seems even more into the character this second time around. I really enjoyed his performance in The Mummy, but he is much more in tune here, in terms of humor and subtle touches, so by default, his turn is more solid, even if not the kind to win awards with. Fraser looks to be having a lot of fun with his role here, so of course, this means on screen energy and enthusiasm, which are welcome elements in a motion picture like this one. You can also see Fraser in such films as Encino Man, Bedazzled, Airheads, Blast from the Past, and Monkeybone. The cast also includes Rachel Weisz (Beautiful Creatures, Chain Reaction), Arnold Vosloo (Hard Target, Steel Dawn), Oded Fehr (Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo, Bread and Roses), John Hannah (The Hurricane, Sliding Doors), and of course, WWF superstar The Rock as The Scorpion King.
Video: How does it look?
The Mummy Returns is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This is a very good overall visual effort, but not the reference level presentation I had expected. As Universal is very good with day & date releases, I figured this would be an out of the world transfer, but it ends up below that mark. I found the image to be soft at times and I even saw some compression errors, not good news, by any means. Even so, this is still an above average turn, with rich colors, a clean source print, and spot on black levels, so no need for concerns here. No, this is not the new demo disc, but it should please fans, as it does look terrific, even if flawed.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio fares better than the video, but still falls short of being reference level. But don’t think this means it is a bad track, as the included Dolby Digital 5.1 option is loaded with directional effects, rear channels magic, and clean front channel presence, it is just that never gets to that elite level of performance. So while I doubt anyone will be let down with this track, it never reaches the heights of some other audio tracks, such as the original film’s soundtrack even. Just a little kick (perhaps DTS was needed) would have knocked this one up a shade, but it all still sounds excellent in this mix. This disc also includes a French language option, as well as English subtitles, should you need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc bears the Collector’s Edition label, but I was let down by the quality of the extras, regardless of the quantity of them included. The real bonus is the audio commentary with director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay, who might be a little overly proud of themselves, but still provide a more than solid session. The extras go downhill from here, but some nice gems can still be drawn out, I think. The Visual & Special Formation gives us an inside look at how four sequences were created, while Egyptology 201 offers a nice amount of text info on some of the topics covered inside the flick itself. As usual, Universal’s Spotlight on Location is twenty minutes of promotional drivel, but some decent bits get through and in the end, it makes for a nice watch, if you liked the movie more than a little. This disc also includes some production notes, talent files, Live music video, a brief outtake reel, some DVD ROM content, some brief promo spots on various topics, a few extras on the upcoming The Scorpion King flick, and the film’s theatrical trailer.