"THE MUMMY RETURNS"
(2001) (Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
None	Heavy	Extreme	*Heavy	Extreme
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Mild	Extreme	None	Mild
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	None	Mild	Mild	Extreme

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QUICK TAKE:

Action/Adventure/Horror: Eight years after dealing with the supernatural release of a deadly mummy, a legionnaire and his Egyptologist wife find themselves trying to stop that mummy, his lover, and various others from gaining control of an army of the dead that could rule the world.

PLOT:

Eight years after American legionnaire Rick O'Connell (BRENDAN FRASER) and his British companions, librarian/Egyptologist Evelyn (RACHEL WEISZ) and her brother, Jonathan (JOHN HANNAH), defeated the forces of Imhotep (ARNOLD VOSLOO), a former high priest turned mummy who was accidentally resurrected during a dig, Rick and Evelyn are still exploring ancient Egyptian ruins, despite now being married and having an eight-year-old son, Alex (FREDDIE BOATH).

While doing so, they discover a large, scorpion-shaped gold bracelet that once belonged to the Scorpion King (THE ROCK), a warrior from long ago who traded his soul to a god in exchange for military victory, but has since been frozen in time, along with his invincible army of the dead. Returning to their London home, the O'Connells learn that others are interested in the bracelet as well, including the Curator of the British Museum (ALUN ARMSTRONG), as well as Lock-Nah (ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE) and Meela (PATRICIA VELASQUEZ) who's a spitting image of Imhotep's former lover, Anck-Su-Namun.

They're eager to retrieve the bracelet and resurrect Imhotep, who they've recently unearthed and believe to be the only being who could defeat the Scorpion King - who will now be released in seven days -- and thus gain control of his army of the dead. Accompanied by Ardeth Bay (ODED FEHR), the leader of the Medjai who are sworn to protect the sacred burial grounds, and Izzy (SHAUN PARKES), a zany dirigible pilot, Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan set out to stop Imhotep -- who wants to resurrect Anck-Su-Namun into Meela's body -- and the rest of the villains, who've now kidnapped Alex, before it's too late.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they liked the original film or are fans of anyone in the cast, it's a good bet they will want to see it.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13

For adventure action and violence.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

BRENDAN FRASER plays a dashing legionnaire who turns out to be more cautious than his wife, but still finds himself in all sorts of adventurous and dangerous predicaments, including some where he must kill various villains.

RACHEL WEISZ plays his wife, a former librarian and noted Egyptologist who's more adventurous than Rick, and finds herself drawn back to Egypt and its ruins due to various visions and dreams she's been having. She also shoots various bad guys.

JOHN HANNAH plays Evelyn's nebbish brother who tries to stay alive while hoping to get rich. He also shoots various people.

ARNOLD VOSLOO plays the former high priest who was mummified alive for killing his master after having an affair with his mistress. Reincarnated some 3000 years later for the second time, he wishes to resurrect his long dead lover and then defeat the Scorpion King so that he can control his army of the dead.

ODED FEHR plays the leader of a group of men who are sworn to protect the sacred burial grounds and must battle that army. He kills various villains in the process of doing so.

PATRICIA VELASQUEZ plays two characters, the evil Meela who wants to resurrect Imhotep and her ancient counterpart, Anck-Su-Namun, who wants to rule with him.

FREDDIE BOATH plays Rick and Evelyn's precocious son who gets himself into some trouble, serves as an irritant to Lock-Nah after being kidnapped, and uses some profanity.

ALUN ARMSTRONG plays an evil curator who's behind most of the nefarious plans of resurrecting Imhotep.

THE ROCK plays an ancient desert warrior who promised his soul to a god in exchange for victory, but has been frozen in time for thousands of years since then.

ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE plays a man intent on reincarnating Imhotep who must deal with the behavior and actions of his young hostage, Alex.

SHAUN PARKES plays the somewhat zany proprietor of a desert "airline" who uses some profanity while flying Rick and his group to their destination.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this action-adventure/horror film that's been rated PG-13. Violence is listed as extreme due to many people, and other beings, being killed in various fashions. These include massive battle scenes where opponents strike others with swords and the like, and others with people being killed by beetles and scorpions (falling into "rivers" of them or having them erupt from under their skin, etc.), many others by gunfire (from machine guns, handguns, shotguns, etc.), swords/knives, or being attacked by pygmy skeleton creatures. Despite the quantity and intensity of such violence, much of it's done in an "old-fashioned" way where little or no blood or graphic injuries are seen.

Non-lethal violence includes various fights among people (using swords, fists, etc.), others being threatened with harm or death, or being injured via supernatural powers. Some of those scenes and many others (including the sight of partially decomposed mummies, shrunken heads and such) may be unsettling, suspenseful and maybe even frightening - particularly for younger viewers, but that all depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material - especially due to the ever present ominous and suspenseful sounding soundtrack.

Profanity consists of a handful of expletives, while some colorful phrase are also used. Some brief, passionate kissing occurs, while a female character from the past wears a fishnet-like outfit that barely covers her body and shows a great deal of her breasts and rear end. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some tense family moments are present, including a kidnapped son and a death in the family (although the deceased is resurrected via an incantation).

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in it.

For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs during two scenes.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

None.

BLOOD/GORE

After trading his soul to an ancient god in exchange for victory, the Scorpion King picks up a live scorpion and bites into it (with slightly gory/gooey results).

We see the bulge of several beetles moving under the skin on a man's front, back and then up his face from which they then explode (but without any noticeable blood and seen somewhat from a distance)

Imhotep is resurrected as a partially decomposed mummy, with various holes in his body and head. As he's shot, more holes appear and some chunks of "meat" fly out, but there's no blood.

We see a man's face dematerializing and then flowing through the air over to the mummy's face (that still has that partially decomposed look), leaving the original man's face with less skin and something of a skeletal look (but only briefly seen).

We see another dead and somewhat dehydrated looking man.

Alex disgustedly looks at brown marks on the walls near a train's toilet.

We see various shrunken heads in a jungle setting.

A man screams and then pulls his hand from a hole to reveal a slimy/gooey skeletal hand on his arm.

Jonathan has a little bit of blood on his shirt from where he's sliced with a knife, while Anck-Su-Namun has the same on her face.

The Scorpion King (in centaur form of half man, half gargantuan scorpion) returns and comes after Rick, but then grabs another man and tears his body into many pieces (seen from a distance and not explicitly bloody).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

All of those working with the scheming Curator and then Imhotep to rule an army of the dead obviously have extreme cases of both (they also kidnap Evelyn and then Alex).

Viewers sensitive to supernatural matters may also find all of the supernatural spells and other such material as being objectionable/in bad taste.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or even scary for some viewers, particularly younger ones, which also holds true for the sight of various creatures, including the partially decomposed main mummy, other mummies and the like, the tormented souls of the dead, and the Scorpion King (as a centaur like creation of half man, half gargantuan scorpion).

The same holds true for the sight of (and various close calls with) various venomous snakes, scorpions, tarantulas and various bugs.

Rick slowly makes his way through a darkened tunnel with his gun drawn (as some suspenseful music plays) and then he, Evelyn and Alex have various encounters with bad guys and assorted peril. This includes a bad guy, armed with a knife, slowly coming after Alex who's hiding on some scaffolding, and Evelyn and Rick being swept away by a torrent of water that nearly drowns them.

A mummy suddenly comes to life and pops up in front of Rick and Ardeth. Other mummies then come to life in their museum display cases.

The Curator reads a passage during a ceremony that resurrects Imhotep in partially decayed mummy form.

Some bad guys nearly dump Evelyn into a fire, but not before Rick saves her and a huge gun battle breaks out, followed by a scene where Rick and the others try to escape on a double-decker bus but must battle various scary looking creatures that repeatedly attack them (in a several minute, adventurous scene).

After witnessing and experiencing a vision from the past, Evelyn nearly jumps from a dirigible, only to be caught at the last second by Rick who grabs her ankle (and they briefly dangle from it).

Imhotep creates a tidal wave of water (that occasionally includes a monstrously sized image of his head in it) that chases Rick and the others through a canyon in their dirigible. After a minute or so of this, they appear to have outrun it, but it eventually catches and crashes them into the ground (we see the damaged dirigible, but no one inside it is harmed).

We see various skeletons in cages and skulls littered about a jungle place, and then see several shrunken heads and then various pygmy skeletons that chase after and attack various people.

Learning that Alex will die if sunlight hits a pyramid before he can get the boy inside it, Rick races through the jungle to do just that.

The ending of the film, where three separate fight and battle scenes occur, as well as the sight of a sea of writhing, dead people trying to pull several people into a ravine and others trying to escape, may be suspenseful to some viewers in an action-oriented fashion.

Jonathan nearly falls from a dirigible, only to be caught by his foot.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Handguns/Machine guns/Shotguns/Rifles/Swords/Knives/Battle axes/Spears/Dynamite: Used in various fights and battles to threaten, wound or kill people and live mummies and other supernatural beings. See "Violence" for details.

Flamethrowers: Used to kill various carnivorous and otherwise lethal beetles.

Slingshot: Used by Alex several times to pelt one man.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Shut up," "God dang," "What the hell /are you doing here?" "Who the hell are those guys?" "Oh, jeez," "My dad's going to kick your ass," "Wench," "Go to Hell and take your friends with you" and "You idiot."

After trading his soul to an ancient god in exchange for victory, the Scorpion King picks up a live scorpion and bites into it (with slightly gory/gooey results).

Alex uses a slingshot to shoot a villain in the neck and then rear end.

Alex repeatedly asks Lock-Na, "Are we there yet?" to irritate him and then imitates his movement/behavior to do the same.

JUMP SCENES

During a tense scene, Rick suddenly turns and is startled by Alex (which will make some jump in the standard, horror movie sense).

A mummy suddenly comes to life and pops up in front of Rick and Ardeth. Other mummies then come to life in their museum display cases.

Someone suddenly grabs Alex.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

An extreme amount of ominous, suspenseful and action-oriented music plays throughout the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 4 uses of "ass," 4 hells, 5 uses of "Oh my God," 2 of "God" and 1 of "For Christ's sakes" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

Evelyn shows a bit of cleavage in several scenes, as does Meela.

Evelyn acts somewhat sensuously toward Rick several times when they're alone and not facing peril, and they passionately kiss back at home after she acts that way. After he does something, she says that him doing so makes her feel like doing anything, and he somewhat excitedly replies, "Anything?" (but nothing else happens).

Jonathon comes back to Rick and Evelyn's place with a blonde bombshell who shows a great deal of cleavage.

Evelyn passionately kisses Rick again.

We see a flashback to Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun making out and that then segues into a shot of Meela making out with the still partially decomposed Imhotep (as the mummy).

Evelyn (as a former self) and Anck-Su-Namun wear bra-like tops and small sarong-like outfits around their waists.

In a scene from the first movie, Anck-Su-Namun wears a very revealing outfit that shows much of her body, but no explicit nudity. As such, she wears a mesh-like, see-through outfit that covers just her breasts (although her nipples are covered) and other parts (although we see most of her bare butt with just a thin strip of material going down the center). As she walks along and we see a full body shot of her, she appears mostly nude despite the fine, mesh-like material.

SMOKING

None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Rick and Evelyn worry about their son after he's kidnapped.

Family members grieve over the death of a loved one (although that person is brought back to life).

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Ancient Egypt and its many legends.

Those who explore and/or plunder ancient ruins.

That people who are stabbed to death cannot be brought back to life through a spell as occurs in the film.

VIOLENCE

Two massive armies of people collide with members of both sides attacking, hitting and striking others with swords and their shields (much of the impact appears quite severe, but is without graphic wounds or gore despite the sight of some soldiers/fighters stabbing others (in a non-graphic fashion).

After trading his soul to an ancient god in exchange for victory, the Scorpion King picks up a live scorpion and bites into it (with slightly gory/gooey results).

We see the results of the Scorpion King's army of the dead attacking an Egyptian kingdom (with burning structures and an obelisk being knocked/pulled over).

Alex uses a slingshot to shoot a villain in the neck and then rear end.

Alex accidentally causes various large Egyptian columns to fall onto each other like dominoes with the last one crashing through a wall.

A massive amount of beetles pour out of an archeological dig, covering and presumably killing many workers (who are pulled back down into the hole and covered by the beetles). We see several beetles under one such man's skin (on his shirtless front and back) that then move up to his face where they blast free from it (we see the brief explosion, but no real blood or gore). Others then use flamethrowers to burn and kill the bugs.

Some bad guys grab Jonathan and one eventually holds his large knife to his throat. Meela then also shows up, retrieves an Egyptian asp from a basket, and threateningly moves toward Jonathan with it.

Evelyn pulls out a sword to defend herself and Alex from Lock-Nah and his men. A fight then breaks out with Evelyn kicking one man as she does several back flips to get away, and Ardeth joins the fray with various swordfights then ensuing. One of the men then grabs Evelyn and she knees him in the crotch and gut before punching him in the face. As this fight continues downstairs, another fight has broken out upstairs with Rick taking on other men. During this, a man enters with a machine gun and opens fire. Meanwhile, Ardeth and Lock-Nah continue fighting with punching and kicking, while Alex overturns a bookcase onto one of the villains. A man then punches Evelyn, knocking her out, while Ardeth appears to be sliced by a blade (but without any visible blood) and nearly hit with a large knife. Rick and Jonathan then run and jump through a window, avoiding more machine gun fire and landing on a canopy below. The man with the machine gun then continues firing at them as they run along the house.

Mad at what's occurred (and Evelyn being kidnapped), Rick grabs Ardeth by his clothes, wanting to know what's going on.

Some bad guys nearly dump Evelyn into a fire, but not before Rick saves her and huge gun battle breaks out. Ardeth then opens fire on the various bad guys and Imhotep (in partially decayed mummy form), riddling the mummy with bullets (but not otherwise harming him). Meela and others then open fire on Ardeth with machine guns and handguns, while some bad guys appear to be hit and fall back into the fire. Rick fires his shotgun and hits the mummy, while more people are shot and killed and some catch on fire. Some cases of material explode and catch on fire when bullets hit them.

Some ancient and now resurrected creatures blast through the walls of a museum and chase after Rick and others who are trying to escape on a double-decker bus. The creatures run over Rick's car (smashing it down) and he, in turn, shoots several of them with his shotgun but they keep coming, including running along building walls like spiders. Ardeth fires at them with his machine gun, but one of them grabs Ardeth and throws him from side to side inside the bus. As Rick tries to load his shotgun, one of the creatures grabs him and then smashes him back and forth between the ceiling and floor. One of the creatures slices Ardeth with a blade, while Rick fights with the other creature and the bus crashes into a parked car. Evelyn shoots a creature that disintegrates, while Rick repeatedly punches another, and then pokes his fingers into its empty eye sockets (in classic Three Stooges style). The bus then hits a low overpass, sheering off the top and smashing the last creature into that structure.

Three henchmen are brought into a train car where they encounter the mummy. One opens fire on him with his pistol, but to no avail. Moments later, the mummy kills a man by drawing the atoms of his face over to his, and the two remaining men open fire on the mummy. Later, we see that all three men are evidently dead.

Rick shoots a lock to get inside Izzy's compound.

After being fed-up with Alex's irritating behavior, Lock-Na quickly stabs a knife down into the table, nearly impaling the boy's hand.

Bad guys open fire on Alex has he escapes from a train. Imhotep then uses his powers to raise two of those men into the air and have them collide, while he sends another two flying through the air until they crash into an Egyptian ruin.

We see a flashback to Evelyn (as a former self) and Anck-Su-Namun competing/fighting with one another using fighting knives/mini-swords that also involves some kicking. They then fight with what look like battle-axes, but neither is harmed.

In a scene from the first movie, Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep repeatedly stab the Pharaoh, before Anck-Su-Namun takes her own life by stabbing herself (no blood in either instance).

Imhotep creates a tidal wave of water (that occasionally includes a monstrously sized image of his head in it) that chases Rick and the others through a canyon in their dirigible. After a minute or so of this, they appear to have outrun it, but it eventually catches and crashes them into the ground (we see the damaged dirigible, but no one inside it is harmed).

Lock-Na apparently shoots Ardeth's messenger bird (the impact isn't seen).

Many pygmy skeletons chase after and attack various bad guys (we see the men being pulled down into the brush as they scream). Some of the pygmy creatures shoot darts/sticks that impale some of the bad guys, killing them.

Rick and Ardeth come upon the above scene and shoot and kill many people, all while Lock-Na chases after Alex trying to catch and kill him. Meanwhile, Evelyn and Jonathan pick off and kill various bad people from a distance with their rifles, while Rick saves Alex and then shoots some of the pygmy creatures.

Lock-Na and Ardeth get into a sword fight (with the latter also kicking and punching the former several times), while some bad guys land in some quick sand and sink to their presumed deaths. Ardeth then slices and apparently kills Lock-Na, and Jonathan then shoots a man just as he seemed ready to shoot Ardeth.

Some pygmy creatures grab and attack some of the men, tearing them up (but without any blood).

A pygmy creature throws a spear that impales a man in the chest.

Rick lights a stick of dynamite that then explodes in the hands of one of those pygmy skeleton creatures, killing it, others and splitting a fallen tree in half, sending it and them down into a ravine.

Anck-Su-Namun stabs another person in the gut, delivering a lethal blow (but this person is later brought back to life through a spell).

Imhotep picks up and throws a man.

Anck-Su-Namun hits Jonathan in the face several times, with him finally punching her back. She then slices him with a knife. Evelyn and Anck-Su-Namun then fight with long daggers/mini-swords, with Evelyn even head-butting her opponent.

Imhotep and Rick fight with punches thrown to the gut and face, along with some kicking.

Two massive armies - one of the Dead and the other led by Ardeth - clash with all sorts of combat taking place across the battlefield, where the Dead soldiers (that look like upright ancient Egyptian dog figures) dissolve into sand when struck.

The Scorpion King (in centaur form of half man, half gargantuan scorpion) returns and comes after Rick, but then grabs another man and tears his body into many pieces (seen from a distance and not explicitly bloody). He then knocks Rick aside and Jonathan throws a spear at the creature, but Imhotep catches it. He then throws it, but Rick catches it and then uses it to impale and kill the creature.

A man falls into a writhing sea of the dead, and is presumably killed.

A woman falls into a sea of scorpions and sinks below, presumably killed.

Reviewed May 1, 2001 / Posted May 4, 2001

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