Apr. 01, 2004 - 10:33 am
looking for something to watch last night, i decided to go with something that i owned but hadn't written a review about before. i'm generally a very big fan of the Mummy movies. the first one is hilarious i think. this one's not quite as funny, but it's still very good. plus it's got Rachel Weisz in it which is always good. gorgeous woman. one of the main things i love about The Mummy Returns though is all of the movie references and trying to pick them out.
i mean seriously, look how many references the IMDb has listed for this movie.
this is the sequel to The Mummy (1999) and has all of the same major characters in it. Rick O'Connell again is in Egypt with his wife Evie and new son Alex. they come across an ancient bracelet and Alex puts it on. from that moment, they are being chased by foreign warriors and thugs who also bring back the mummy from his grave. their plan is to resurrect an ancient monster called The Scorpion King and then use the mummy to kill him and take over his evil army, which will allow them to rule the world. Rick and Evie along with the rest of the crew must try to retrieve their son from the warriors and the mummy and stop the end of the world.
like i say, i really enjoy this movie and i think it's a lot of fun, but i'm going to go on a rant about movie violence now.
this movie got a PG-13 rating and the producers really wanted to get that rating. they did quite a few things to prevent themselves from getting an R. i think at points they sacrificed emotion and feeling in scenes in order to keep children from seeing violence. a good example of this is when Evie gets "killed" by the Egyptian queen. all of the acting in this scene is quite terrible and no one is believably sad. i think had we actually seen a bit more of the actualities of her being stabbed we might all (including the actors) be more sympathetic about her death. as it stands it is very objective and you don't even really see the knife go into her. it's almost like it didn't happen.
i understand that it's not good for children to be seeing blood and guts all of the time, but i think when you see such an objective death as this one you kind of lose the reality about what violence and death are all about. you get sort of a numb reaction and start to get the feeling that death isn't really that big of a deal. it's no more than a plot progression tactic. what they're saying is that these characters aren't real and you shouldn't care whether they live or die. i have a problem with this. obviously.
but keep in mind that i did really enjoy The Mummy Returns, despite a few poorly directed scenes, and i do actually own a copy of the film. if they take the time to watch this very funny and exciting film i'm sure most people will get as much enjoyment from it as i do.