The Mummy Returns

The O'Connell/Carnahan family return to Egypt, mayhem and mystery as once again the Hamunaptra Mummy, Imhotep, has been raised from the dead. Also our crew must also face down the legendary Scorpion King. Oh, and Ardeth Bay is back too, with more screen time, predictions of doom and an awesome falcon named Horus. Not to serious, not to dark, with the right amount of mystery and romance pretty much sums up The Mummy Returns. 

Ten years after the madness of Hamunaptra, Rick and Evie O'Connell and their eight year old son, Alex, have continued with their archeological research and adventure seeking. Evie has been suffering from nightmares for weeks and somehow feels that her dreams and the work she's doing strangely coincide with one another. While the O'Connell's' are excavating, they come across the bracelet of the Scorpion King. 

Centuries before in 3067 BC, the Scorpion King was a fierce and deadly military leader. However, after a crippling defeat, the King and his men are made to wander the blistering desert. Alone and desperate to survive, the Scorpion King sells his soul to Anubis, the god of the underworld. The king pledges his loyalty to Anubis if the god would spare his life. Anubis complies and also proceeds to give the king a supernatural army to continue to destroy countries and civilizations. Overtime, the Scorpion King faded into legend and myth, but it is still believed that he and his army can be resurrected every 5,000 years and that his bracelet is the guide to find him.

Meanwhile, Imhotep is resurrected by a fanatical Egyptian cult. They then plan to find the tomb of the Scorpion King and bring back his army to stop anyone who tries interfere. After Alex is kidnapped for possessing the bracelet and accessing the maps to find the Scorpion King, the O'Connell's (and Jonathan), with the help of Ardeth Bay, must track down these fanatics before their son is killed and the dead are raised back to life. 

As crazy and funny as the first film, The Mummy Returns, was a good sequel, not only because they wrote the O'Connell family to perfection, but also because Ardeth had a bigger role as well : ) However, the awful CGI work done on the Scorpion King in the final battle was so terrible, he could have been the stuff of nightmares. 

One thing I loved about this film is how Rick and Evie are (after 10 years of being together) still so ridiculously and adorably in love they are with each other! Seriously, it's great to see a positive portrayal of a husband and wife who love each other so deeply and passionately, while at the same time being parents with respective careers. 

Their son, Alex, is awesome! Sometimes I dread seeing a kid put into a film, but I loved that Alex was genuinely very intelligent and knowledgeable about Egyptology just like his mother, but he also has his Dad's love of adventure. The O'Connell's are probably one of the best well-written fictional screen families I've seen in a long time (and yes, Jonathan counts). Whereas the first film it was group of strangers on an adventure to save humanity, in The Mummy Returns, it's about an adventurous family saving one another.