So much average

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The second in a trilogy, though I am unsure if a third was intended at the completion of this film. I just completed the trilogy and will sadly see the new film as well.The cinematography isn't bad. The story is worse than the first one. The characters are about the same. The lone exception is the child, which meant that the film would be horrible. It is bad enough that the "good" characters have superhuman abilities to avoid any danger, they can also come back from the dead.I am unsure if this was used in the first or second film, but the phrase, "Mortal weapons cannot hurt him/kill him." He does seem to be able to get hurt with a few punches though. If a bullet doesn't hurt, why would a punch/rock/anything else?In conclusion, this is a stupid film. It is good if you want to sleep, as I did towards the end (the first time). If you like it, you will probably be happy in life, as you like films that treat you like a child.It made a lot of money, which isn't shocking. Hopefully the people that paid for it had a horrible fate befall them. If you think that is harsh, good for you. The film is painfully bad, though not as bad as the third.

A timeless comedy and a fantastic adventure. I wish they still made movies like this

Roughly 9 years on from the events of the first film Rick and Evelyn are now married and have an 8 year old son called Alex. Whilst on another one of their archaeological digs they come across the bracelet of Anubis and return it back to their London home. In the meantime another team of explorers find Imhotep's body and raise him from the dead and this team of explorers need this bracelet to control The Scorpion King's army and take over the world. Rick and his team must do everything in their power to stop this rival faction acquiring the bracelet and must once again try to destroy Imhotep.The Mummy Returns shares a lot of the same qualities as the first film; the tongue-in-cheek humour, goofy charm, and once again the tone is fairly light-hearted and fun. As with the first film, the story is fairly well-paced and moved along fairly well - the only aspect of the story that I wasn't totally impressed with was Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun's romance which was overused and given a little more focus than I felt was necessary.The performances were pretty good once again; although the chemistry that Weisz and Fraser shared here wasn't quite as good as it was in the first film - maybe having them as a married couple in this film may have subdued it somewhat. As Alex, Freddie Booth gives a cheeky and fun performance and to his credit he didn't cross that fine line between being funny and annoying which was nice to see. John Hannah was good value here, although again I didn't think he was quite as funny in the second film as he was in the first film.The only real problem I had with this film lay with the Scorpion King's arrival at the end.... Having seen the real Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson at the start of the film I fully expected to see the real Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson at the end of the film. However, when he does arrive rather than being Dwayne Johnson what we actually get is some kind of horrendous CGI creation of Dwayne Johnson. Why did the filmmakers feel that it was necessary to CGI Dwayne Johnson??? Couldn't they have just superimposed a scorpion's tail and claws/pincers on to his body? I can't imagine that this decision will have gone down well with his fans and I'm sure that the real Dwayne Johnson could have been used at the end as the Scorpion King with some kind of computer wizardry. Personally I thought it just looked naff and it made what should have been a tense final battle look laughable... Imhotep's cowardice at the end only made matters worse. Had the CGI been good then I might have let it slide, but it looked awful and was a misstep in my opinion.Fortunately, a lot of the fun that was present in the first film is present here which, like the first film, makes this sequel watchable. However, the CGI Dwayne Johnson Scorpion King at the end was awful and almost ruined this film for me, but the key word here is almost.

I wasn't a major fan of the first MUMMY film so it took me six years to finally bother watching this sequel – when I happened to catch it on television. In all respects it's a direct continuation of the first in the series, with the viewpoint of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". THE MUMMY made a whole heap of cash at the box office, so the big wigs ordered more of the same, and what we get is THE MUMMY RETURNS. Loud, brash, and resolutely dumb, this is a film that requires you to leave your brain outside the door before sitting down to watch. It's packed with preposterous special effects and some awful acting, but despite these things, I couldn't help but enjoy it a little. It's certainly more fun than the first film, as everything's settled down a little and there are no hopes waiting to be dashed. Despite the overlong running time, THE MUMMY RETURNS provides adequate entertainment for those in a forgiving mood.I won't talk about the plot – suffice to say the action shifts from Egypt to London and then finally back to Egypt again. It's all wonderfully stupid, and the script is a real clunker this time around. Unfortunately the film-makers decided to put a kid into the proceedings, and Freddie Boath plays an irritating public school brat of a boy; you'll be praying for him to get his head lopped off or at the very least lose an arm during the proceedings, but to no avail. Fraser and Weisz return as the hero and heroine; Fraser is typically wooden, while Weisz gives another absolutely appalling performance; how is this woman still getting acting jobs? Far better is John Hannah, whose comic relief role is reduced here, and the returning Arnold Vosloo seems a lot more comfortable with his central role. Heads up to The Rock, who impresses despite only having five minutes of screen time, and Patricia Velasquez, who seems to be trying to rival Weisz in terms of bad acting but who really looks the part – especially those eyes! Other characters I liked were Izzy, the black pilot; the black bodyguard, who whups major backside, and Alun Armstrong, who seems a little lost here, a world away from his usual films.This being an action-adventure, you'd better pray there's plenty of action to be had, and the good news is that there most definitely is. Whether it's mummies chasing a double decker bus through the streets of London, Arabs and Westerners duking it out in displays of swordsmanship, or deadly pygmies lurking in the bush, the fight scenes come thick and fast and once again, they're heavy on the special effects. As for those FX, they're a mixed bunch, ranging from passable but seeming to deteriorate as the film progresses. By the time the completely-CGI Scorpion King shows up at the film's climax, they're hopelessly messy and quite appalling, and the cartoonish pygmies are also a disappointment. But never mind that – THE MUMMY RETURNS improves on the first film, and that's a definite good thing. Just don't go in expecting too much.