It's only been about two years since The Mummy graced the silver screen. I must confess, that I was not a fan of that picture, and I was particularly annoyed by the way it was marketed. It was hardly a monster movie. The Mummy was more of a low rent Indiana Jones picture. True, some of the effects were dazzling and the movie did exude a goofy charm, but ultimately, I was bored to death by the movie. Thankfully, I found this sequel slightly more entertaining.

This one actually picks up about ten years after the original. Rick and Evie O'Connell (Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz) have enjoyed a healthy relationship and have a son to prove it. And what would their lives be without a little adventure. They find it in the form of their old nemesis Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a 3000 year old mummy they had the pleasure of defeating in the first picture. To make matters worse, they have to do battle with yet another enemy, the bulky Scorpion King (played by the WWF's The Rock.)

As this movie began, I was really bugged by the all too familiar shades of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Mummy Returns doesn't stop there either. It tips it's hat to the Alien films, E.T., Titanic, Braveheart, The Matrix, the tales of Jules Verne, Congo (if you can believe it), and countless other pictures. And although the first installment was hardly a character study, it had far more character development than this. Despite that fact, I found myself enjoying The Mummy Returns more, probably because I didn't have to pay as much attention. I actually liked the way this picture flowed. It's bigger in scope and far sillier, making it more fun.

I still can't get into Fraser and Weisz has only a few fun moments, but this movie is about special effects so who really cares. Many will argue that the effects in this picture are far too effects looking to be effective, particularly the Scorpion King, who is obviously a high tech digital creation. I say that in a film like this, you can get away with it. This picture is pure fantasy and never is it once grounded in realism like say Driven, a film in which lousy digital effects actually hurt the final product. The Mummy Returns uses it's effects in way that Ray Harryhausen did back in the day. Look at Clash of the Titans. Never once in that picture did those stop motion effects look like the real deal, but you appreciate the love and attention that went into bringing those creations to the screen. The Mummy Returns is hardly in the same league, but I wasn't put off by the digital trickery because I came to expect that sort of thing in this picture.

The Mummy Returns is the first of the summer crop of big budget extravaganzas that we can expect to see in the coming months. As it stands, it's not the greatest of summer entertainment, but it's hardly the worst. At the very least, it should whet our appetites for what's to come.