Movie sequels are a lot like video games. Having experienced the first, you’d expect the sequel to be either a huge improvement or disappointing failure; the latter being more of a case from the majority of poorly made follow-ups. To my surprise, this latest mummy flick turned out to be neither of the two. It’s basically a more expensive, recycled production of the original with the WWF superstar thrown in for good measure. Viewers will undoubtedly feel a sense of déjà vu from being presented with the same old treats, only this time, in a different bag. Remember that stunt involving the little plane being swallowed by some huge sand demon? Well, here it is again. The plane gets scrapped in favor of a junky old blimp whereas your scary sand wall is now water-based.

The movie’s main attraction was initially thought to be The Rock, a popular WWF wrestler with a barrel of wisecracks that would put even someone like Jay Leno to shame. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but the only wisecracks you’ll be hearing are the ones from O’Connell’s bratty 8 year old kid. The Rock’s Scorpion King character hardly says a word in his brief appearance, preferring to let his blade do most of the talking. The movie opens on a spectacular note featuring a huge battle between the Scorpion King’s army against the forces & defenses of a walled up Egyptian city. When it comes to luck, it seems the Scorpion King had none of it and later loses his entire army to the superior Egyptian forces. This defeat leaves him no choice but to sign a dark pact with the god, Anubis in a last ditch attempt to get back at his enemies.

WWF fans, prepare to be disappointed. Your wisecracking idol is about to pull a disappearing act, taking a back seat to Mr Encino Man, Branden Fraser. He's back with that old confused 'Rick O'Connel' look, like he's having a bad week or something. While on a seemingly harmless excavation trip to Egypt with his wife & kid, our treasure hunting hero stumbles upon a magical bracelet belonging to the dreaded Scorpion King. Of course, when dealing with something this priceless, you’d got to have some baddies wanting to get their mitts on it as well. It’s all part of the age-old formula that had made such movies as Indiana Jones so successful. To make things worse, his old pal, Im-Ho-Tep is about to get resurrected for the second time, signaling big trouble for our confused Indy Jones wannabe.

Alright, I hear you WWF fans complaining again about why this Yul Brynner look-alike had to be the one who gets reincarnated instead of everyone’s favorite wrestling superstar. Well, I was asking myself this same thing during the movie. I mean, what’s with the all the hype & fake advertising about The Rock appearing in this flick when all he gets is a miserable 15 minutes of precious screen time?

With the exception of The Rock’s Scorpion King & O’Connell’s young son, virtually everyone else is an older, wiser variation of the characters they were in the original. Oops! Did I forget to mention Van Damme’s Legionnaire side kick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje? How could I forget. It took me 5 full minutes just to type that name out. Well, pardon me for nearly overlooking his royal beefyness’s presence. He gets to play some big, dumb henchman who’s repeatedly outsmarted by an 8 year old. Initially, I took him for Billy Blanks with an additional 20 pounds of beef slapped on that wide frame of his but oops...I was mistaken again. Silly old me.

Another thing about the movie I’m sure everyone noticed was the use of martial arts and a ninja weapon known as a ‘sai’. You know, the twin dagger-like metallic thingies without the blade. Hey wait a minute. I’m no expert on ancient Egyptian weapons, so why should I be complaining? Maybe such weapons did exist in Ancient Egypt. Maybe there were mummy ninjas & nunchaku wielding samurais as well. Aww, heck, let’s throw in a big, bad Shogun to make that look complete.

Before you go on dismissing this as another negative review, let me surprise you by saying that I actually enjoyed the movie. I really did! Throwing the shallow plot & lack of originality out the window, what was there not to like about it? It had Branden Fraser, 15 minutes of The Rock plus the special effects were pure eye candy. Comedic elements were at a respectable level, relying on quirky one-liners & the occasional jaw-stretching slapstick acts borrowed from a well-known Sam Raimi project. In coming up with the final grade, I will be taking the mean between 2 comparisons to which I’ll rating the movie on. Firstly as an action flick, it’s well deserving of a near perfect score while as a sequel it falls slightly short, but in no way disappointing, scoring an average on my scale. Final Grade: B

Suggestions for The Mummy 3

1. Please, enough of that old face in the sand/water wall trick.

2. If they're gonna include martial arts, hire a professional like Seagal or Jackie Chan.

3. Avoid taking the Batman route - Naming it 'The Mummy Forever'. Just a simple 'Mummy 3' would be more than adequate.



Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12