The sequel to the very successful film "The Mummy" has a lot of the same formulated fun and action as the first film. Back is the entire cast from the first film; Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Oded Fehr in an expanded role and of course Arnold Vosloo as "The Mummy". Also back is Patricia Velasquez, reprising her short appearance from the first film as the Mummy's lover. In this film Velasquez is a major player.
The film begins with a short tale of the Scorpion King, played by The Rock. His performance is short until the film's ending but is important as a tie-in to the next film in the series entitled "The Scorpion King".
After the brief opening story, we find the O'Connell's married and raising a very adventurous boy who has the ambitious exploring tendencies of his dad and the brains of his mom. He finds the magical Anubis bracelet and tries it on and finds it won't come off that easily. In the meantime, in the desert, the reincarnation of the Mummy's lover (Velasquez) and her priests explore for the bracelet and also for The Mummy to bring him back. Once he has been dug up, they head for London to retrieve the bracelet and end up kidnapping the O'Connell's son. The rest of the film is a long chase to find their son and stop the Mummy from regaining power.
Most sequels suffer from sameness but this one is refreshing as it uses different locations, effects, characters and objectives than the first film. John Hannah as the bumbling brother is a bit much at times but the expansion of Oded Fehr role is a good one as he is torn between his alliegence to his life's work and helping out the O'Connell's in their quest to find their son. Another highlight is the pygmy mummies; vicious and nasty.
The picture and sound quality are again top notch, reference quality all the way. Saturated colors, solid blacks, deep blues, and sharp details. Sound is booming in action scenes and envelopes you in the surround effects.
Extras on this disc are a bit repetitive from the first Mummy disc. You get the same sneak peek at the upcoming Mummy film, the same special of the legend of the Mummy in films, and part to of the making of feature. New are outtakes, commenatry with Atepehns Sommers and producer/editor Bob Ducsay. There is also a short interview with The Rock, and a "Live" music video. Storyboard comparisons and visual and special effects formation are also included on this disc.
"The Mummy Returns" is a good sequel and is again a high quality HD release. Extras are a bit repetitive but include picture in picture and U Control features that anyone with a 1.1 player can use and enjoy plus movie money to use for the upcoming Mummy film. Picture and sound are again excellent. If you enjoyed "The Mummy", you'll enjoy this just as much.
