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Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr ... see more see more... , Patricia Velasquez , Freddie Boath , Alun Armstrong , The Rock , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Shaun Parkes , Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Another legend. Another monster. Another quest for the world! The Scorpion King. A legendary warrior who sold his soul to Anubis was erased from record in the ancient kingdom. His existence was lost t... read more read more...o the sands, preserved only in mythology. But there is truth to the myth. In the desert of Ahm Shere, in a golden pyramid, sleeps the Scorpion King. And he, or whomsoever may kill him, may command the demonic and undefeatable Army of Anubis! Ten years after the cursed high-priest Imhotep was resurrected and defeated by Rick O'Connell and Evelyn and Jonathon Carnahan, he is resurrected once again by a mysterious woman Meela armed with the knowledge of centuries! Together, Imhotep and Meela have one goal: Defeat the Scorpion King and use his army to destroy mankind! Meanwhile, Rick and his wife, Evelyn, are busy raising their son, Alex. On the Egyptian New Year, Evie begins having dreams about ancient Egypt, which lead her straight to the Bracelet of Anubis. Meela's henchmem come for it, but Ardeth Bey appears as well. Ardeth explains the legend, the mythos, and the problem. Now it becomes a race against time to get to Ahm Shere. Will Rick defeat the Scorpion King and send the Army back to the underworld? Or will Imhotep do so and rule the world? Or worse... Is the Scorpion King so powerful that he cannot be defeated, and he himself will raise the Army for global victory?

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69% liked it

676,667 ratings

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47% liked it

137 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 9 min.

Directed by: Stephen Sommers

Release Date: May 4, 2001

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DVD Release Date: October 2, 2001

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Stats: 25,580 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (25,580)

  • magnum32004
    October 31, 2007
    magnum32004
    Escapist entertainment from start to finish. It's the fun of "Indiana Jones" mixed with the frights of Universal Studios' Monsters.
  • ScoopOnline
    August 20, 2010
    ScoopOnline
    This part was just a tasty Piece of Candy. I dont think there is another Movie which can beat this one ever!
  • stopitgoaway
    November 7, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    Rick and Evelyn now married with a son, find themselves amidst the second coming of Imhotep. After their Son Alex is kidnapped by Imhotep as he seeks the Scorpion King (The Rock) Rick and Evelyn must pursue their sons capture, with the aid of the clues Alex leaves along the way.
    ... read more
    Aside from some unusual revelations in Evelyn and Ricks past, the movie concentrates mainly on the action this time out and runs a little short on story.

    I liked the evolution of Evey's character, now she's hardened up she makes a mean adversary, and takes part in some good battles.

    All in all, I enjoyed the experience and once again the visuals were more than adequate.

    If you enjoyed the first, then watch this one, its good fun and has some fine moments.
  • SirPant
    September 18, 2009
    SirPant
    Erm, it?s a complete copy of the first film, nearly down to every frame! Not a very good one at that! Rubbish and lazy!
  • allan913
    December 17, 2008
    allan913
    Spectacular and unforgettable. The entire gang is back and better than ever continuing to shine with their irrisitable chemistry. Brendan Frasier, Rachel Weiz, John Hannah and Oded Fehr are teriffic once again. A full-throttle good time that you cannot get enough of. Absolutely h... read moreilarious and action-packed. Just as fantastic as the first film. Loaded with more amasing action, teriffic humor and great speacial effects. A rollar-coaster that you cant help but get on. An awsome and incrediably fun ride. A frequently thrilling and jaw-dropping adventure that dazzels on the screen with breathtaking excitment. It's a real adventure classic. A sequel that stands to be as good as the first film.
  • susanriley
    October 31, 2008
    susanriley
    Re-watched this movie recently and I have to say it's a good time. Some of the CG leaves a lot to be desired (specifically the Rock as Scorpion King) but overall pretty good.
  • PvtCaboose91
    September 8, 2008
    PvtCaboose91
    "Go to hell and take your friends with you!"


    The seminal rule of sequels to a blockbuster declares that everything must be bigger: bigger special effects, more action, and grander locations. Sequels are the beloved of Hollywood studios who look forward to an easy box

    ... read more office hit. For audience, however, the prospect is often less attractive. Some films shouldn't have sequels. Every once in a while, though, sequels can be worthwhile. Looking at the Indiana Jones franchise, the sequels exist simply to place the central character in a different adventure. Such is also the case with The Mummy Returns.

    The film is an excuse to reunite a majority of the original cast for another adventure. However, at times the film is a severe case of déjà vu and it's impossible to shake off the sense of "been there, done that". What made the Indiana Jones franchise so interesting is the originality with each new episode. When it comes to The Mummy Returns, Sommers is just too lazy to develop an entirely new adventure. It's obvious he wants to disguise this laziness as making clever, subtle references to the first film. But it makes things only more predictable.

    There are also countless inconsistencies that plague the script. The characters featured in The Mummy charmed their way to our hearts by means of charming dialogue. Unfortunately, though, The Mummy Returns relies entirely on our willingness to follow the same characters. There's no room for them to grow...no solid character development...instead we're tossed right into a lacklustre display of rehashed set-pieces, humdrum visual effects, and an excess of action made up entirely of climaxes. At the end of the day, so many things are thrown at the viewer that it all ends up mattering quite little. Then, as if adding insult to injury, the immensely-hyped appearance of wrestling star The Rock is dreary beyond all conception. The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson), playing The Scorpion King, appears only for a few minutes during the film's early moments, and he returns as a completely computer-generated entity during the finale. As a half-man and half-scorpion creature, The Rock looks like he's part of a Z-Grade video game. The CGI is truly awful.

    Anyway, The Mummy Returns is set many years following the first film. Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and Evelyn (Weisz) are now very happily married with precocious young son Alex (Boath) to accompany them during their archaeological adventures. Rick and Evelyn investigate the legend of The Scorpion King who's said to exist in myth and legend. Apparently every few thousand years The Scorpion King will rise again with his army and will rule the world. His unbeatable army is available to him or whosoever can defeat him. At the beginning of the Egyptian New Year, rival archaeologists unearth and resurrect Imhotep (Vosloo). The resurrected Imhotep and his reincarnated love (Velasquez) plan to travel to the tomb of The Scorpion King to awaken him. Imhotep then plans to defeat The Scorpion King and gain control of his army. With this army he will rule the world. Naturally, only Rick O'Connell and his comrades have the ability to prevent the instigation of Imhotep's plan.

    A central fault in the storyline is the extraordinarily conventional world domination sub-plot. It's incredibly clichéd and has no place in an adventure film such as this. The script also abuses the amount of convenience typically allowed for a blockbuster film. The character of Rick O'Connell is cemented too ridiculously into the back-story of the film. He's destined to become one of the religious warriors in the league of Oded Fehr's Ardeth Bey. Watching him battling mummies with an arsenal of weaponry is really cool, but it's cheap and contrived for him to suddenly become an integral part of the film's mythology. Evelyn also begins having visions and flashbacks of her past life. Apparently she's a reincarnation of the daughter of the Pharaoh from many thousands of years ago. Once again, this is too convenient and exists as an excuse for the ancient puzzles to be easily deciphered. Why did these flashbacks never occur during the events of the first film? It's just lame.

    At times the film tends to insult the intelligence of its audience as well. The internal logic makes no sense whatsoever. Like how the hell do the Egyptians obtain Japanese daggers to use during battles? Said daggers aren't even Egyptian and weren't even in existence 3,000 years ago! Sommers also endeavours to make his characters so realistic and down-to-earth. They bleed, they show vulnerability and they generally get scared. Yet he bestows them with superhuman abilities. For instance, Rick is carrying his son while outrunning the rising sun. In order to run faster than the rising sun one must be capable of achieving speeds in excess of 1,000 miles an hour! It's one thing for someone powerful like Imhotep to accomplish this task, but it's entirely unbelievable for a mere mortal such as Rick to run that fast while the sun rises conveniently slowly.

    Then there's the matter of impeccable timing. All the characters seem to accomplish things in the nick of time. Like the flying contraption that's repaired in time to rescue the characters before they'd be annihilated. Or when the central characters arrive just in time as the mummy resurrection ceremony is taking place. These coincidences are too perfect to be believable.
    In addition, director Sommers has succumbed to the plague that's dominating the current action genre: slow motion during the action scenes. This means slo-mo fight moves, and even following a spear in mid-air in ultra slo-mo! It gets tiresome very quickly, not to mention it rapidly kills the film's realistic intentions. The Mummy films have never been Indiana Jones, but they've tried. With the inclusion of slow motion, it just becomes a muddled and tiring mess. To make matters worse, the special effects are bottom-of-the-barrel material. The Scorpion King looks like he's from a video game, his army look extremely unconvincing and the set extensions are painfully obvious. One of the film's highlights is an army of skeletal pigmy warriors. They're an interesting design, but the animation is just appalling.
    The script must also be mentioned. The first film featured some fun witty dialogue. None of this wittiness is retained. Very few memorable lines are included. A few times you'll crack a smile, at other times you'll be rolling your eyes at the painful dialogue that references the predecessor or steals a few direct lines from the first film.

    James Cameron went bigger and louder from The Terminator to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He succeeded mightily. Unfortunately for Stephen Sommers, who wrote and directed The Mummy Returns, he does not succeed one bit. Everything is too overblown and overproduced. What was once a horror/adventure/action/comedy that was always grounded in at least a bit of realism has transformed into an adventure/action/comedy without horror elements that throws all credibility to the wind very quickly.
    He also doesn't succeed because he digs into the same bag of tricks with little originality present. In The Mummy, Evelyn causes book cases to topple over like dominoes. In The Mummy Returns, her son causes a room of pillars to topple over like dominoes. In The Mummy Imhotep creates a sandstorm imprinted with his face to bring down an airplane. In The Mummy Returns, Imhotep creates a wall of water imprinted with his face to bring down a dirigible-like contraption. In The Mummy Jonathan asks Evelyn to help him decipher an Egyptian symbol while Evelyn is in the middle of a battle. In The Mummy Returns, Alex asks Jonathan to help him decipher the same Egyptian symbol while Jonathan is fighting. D'ya see where this is going?

    As a standalone film, The Mummy Returns is an entertaining action/adventure flick. As a sequel, it's a feeble succession of poorly rendered CGI and campy rehashes. It's energetic enough to provide an easy night of entertainment, and believe me I enjoy watching this highly entertaining film, but it's far below the standard of its predecessor and the classic adventure films it tries to mirror. I'm aware that we go to the movies with a healthy suspension of disbelief, but The Mummy Returns takes it way too far. The original The Mummy provided an easy night of fun and entertainment and it never takes itself too seriously. This sequel is ridiculous and unbelievable, flaunting irritating camera work and scarce originality. Followed by The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. A spin-off also exists, entitled The Scorpion King.
  • BiologyBabe2012
    August 16, 2008
    BiologyBabe2012
    Quite unnecessary. Still reasonable enjoyable, though.
  • senorperfecto1
    August 4, 2008
    senorperfecto1
    A few years after defeating The Mummy known as Imhotep, The O?Connell?s decide to settle down to raise their son Alex and search the world for hidden treasures. When a small band decides to resurrect Imhotep to once again to rein his terror and rule the world. Kidnapping the O?Co... read morennell?s son Alex because he has the bracelet to seek and find the hidden tomb of The Scorpion King. If Imhotep could kill the Scorpion King he would gain the immortality and all the power The Scorpion King poses. Now the O?Connell?s must stop Imhotep and rescue their son before Imhotep gains the power of The Scorpion King and rules the world.
    The Mummy Returns is another solid entry in The Mummy franchise that was able to bring back the entire original cast. The Mummy Returns is not perfect but what the movie does should satisfy the viewer. The Rock has a small role as The Scorpion King that helped jump start his career in the movie business. His wrestling persona is perfect for this industry and the first time out The Rock does a solid job. The only fault that people and critics may have with the film is the special effects of The Scorpion King at the end of the movie where he is half human, half scorpion, though in the blu-ray edition of the movie, the special effects are more solid and more believable for the look of The Scorpion King then in the VHS and standard DVD. The Mummy Returns receives three and half sarcophaguses out of five for being a solid action film for the whole family.
  • lyndsiekivell
    July 2, 2008
    lyndsiekivell
    Kim loves these Mummy movies and she kind of got me hooked too.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Travers
June 4, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

A piss-poor mummy movie indeed that doesn't deliver a damn thing worth preserving. Full Review

David Hunter
May 11, 2001
David Hunter, Hollywood Reporter

A bully follow-up to the 1999 international smash Full Review

Michael Atkinson
May 8, 2001
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

The sequel does little more than repeat the need-a-bigger-boat jokes, triple the digital effects, and forget entirely about the old Universal B-movies. Full Review

Susan Stark
May 7, 2001
Susan Stark, Detroit News

There's more than a little unintentional humor in the picture. Full Review

Liam Lacey
May 4, 2001
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Fitfully entertaining. Full Review

Rita Kempley
May 4, 2001
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

Yes, many of the visual effects are stunning, but others are downright cheesy. Full Review

Susan Wloszczyna
May 4, 2001
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today

Overcomes the curse of sequelitis while raising the bar for a marvel-jammed summer at the movies. Full Review

Peter Howell
May 4, 2001
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

The Mummy Returns is that rare sequel that tops its predecessor. Full Review

David Edelstein
May 4, 2001
David Edelstein, Slate

I came to scream with pleasure, but all I could manage was a pitiful, 'Whoa!' Full Review

Mick LaSalle
May 4, 2001
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

This is not to say the new movie is all bad. It has many of the same elements that made the first film charming -- except charm. Full Review

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