The Mummy Returns

Karnak... 
And How To Get It

The Mummy Returns
USA 2001
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Universal UK Blu Ray

Warning: Some major spoilers.

The Mummy Returns was my most looked forward to movie going experience of 2001, I suspect. The Mummy, reviewed here, was probably the best, big budget, old school adventure movie since the first of the Indiana Jones movies and a whole bunch of us had tickets to see the sequel in a big West End cinema in London’s Leicester Square on its first weekend. I had a very strange experience with this the very first time I saw it though... my friends all loved it but I was really disappointed in it that first screening. I don’t know why but I suspect this is the first of a few films where there was so much stuff thrown at the screen that maybe my mind got distracted and couldn’t process it all on the first run. Fortunately, because my parents had loved the first one and wanted to see this one, I had promised to take them to see it as soon as it opened in my local cinema the following week. I’m grateful that I did because, bizarrely, I absolutely loved it the second time around and, looking at it now, it certainly does still hold up well. 

It’s not as good as the first movie but it does have a lot going for it and, above all, it leaned more into what the first film did for a lot of its running time... temper down the horror aspects and stick more with the action and humour. Not always the best tactic, granted but, yeah, it works really well here. 

All the big guns from the previous film are back for the second helpings too and, they certainly haven’t steered clear of certain characters taking on a new depth in terms of growth and some blatant tweaks. We’ve got Brendan Fraser back as Rick O’ Connor, Rachel Weisz back as Evelyn (now Rick’s wife), John Hannah back as Evelyn’s brother Jonathan, Oded Fehr back as Ardeth Bay, Patricia Velasquez as Anck-Su-Namun and Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep. 

Some of the characters are expanded thusly... Rick O’ Connel discovers the tattoo on his arm from the orphanage as a kid is a sign that he’s an honourary member of the Medjai (Ardeth Bay’s crowd), Evelyn is actually a rebirth of Princess Nefertiri (the living family line of the daughter of the king killed by Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun at the start of the previous movie) and Patricia Velasquez is the living embodiment of Anck-Su-Namun in the 20th century... and who chooses to host Anck-Su-Namun’s soul in her body.

There are also three very important new characters... Freddie Boath plays Alex (the son of the O’ Connell’s), Shaun Parkes plays Izzy (an old ‘friend’ of Rick) and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson makes his non-wrestling debut as The Scorpion King who, although he’s one of the film’s villains, was liked so much by the crowds here that he spun off into the first film of what became a Scorpion King franchise. 

Okay... not going over the plot here because a) I don’t particularly want to spoil it anymore than I’m going to in a minute and b) I’m sure most people would have seen this one by now. But, of note in this one are the following...

There are a couple of great fights between Rachel Weisz and Patricia Velasquez, taking place in ancient Egypt in one instance and also the current setting of the film, 1933 (around a decade after the events in the first movie) and, considering they are both wearing masks for the majority of the first fight and the dynamic moves and flips the ladies perform, well, you’d think they had a really good couple of stunt doubles. Not so, though. It turns out that both these actresses trained for these fights for 5 months and no stunt performers were involved. So, yeah... those fights are actually quite something in terms of the actresses in question. There’s also a nice replay of the ancient murder scene from the start of The Mummy but seen from Nefertiri’s point of view, watching from afar, which explains why the king’s guards were able to arrive at the scene of the crime almost immediately. 

Alex accidentally knocks down all the support columns in a temple near the start, in the exact same configuration as Evelyn did with the library book shelves in the first movie. Later, when he’s trying to resurrect Evelyn back from the dead using The Book Of The Dead from the first film, he stumbles reading the exact same symbol/character that Jonathan did in the first film... down to using his arms to mimic the flight of a bird, just as John Hannah did. I don’t know who had the idea but, apparently, the 10 year old Freddie Boath who plays Alex cited The Mummy as his favourite film and had seen it at least 30 times. So he quickly became something of an on set advisor for the cast and crew between his scenes and, you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his idea to make the wing flap mannerism when he gets stuck at that same word. Just conjecture though and, either way, it’s a really nice touch. 

Oh wait... did I say Evelyn’s resurrection scene? Nobody ever sees this one coming (including me) but, around half an hour from the end, once Alex has been rescued from kidnappers and also from having the life sucked out of him by the bracelet of Anubis, Evelyn is killed. Run through by Anck-Su-Namun in a perfectly timed scene which really takes you by surprise. And, to the director’s credit, this doesn’t play as a throw away moment. She has a proper ‘last words’ death scene and Rick enters a temple after Imhotep (and the reincarnated Scorpion King), in full vengeance mode. Director Sommers even does a nice series of shots using different takes in different lighting environments all crosscut together of Rick walking down a tunnel to emphasis his ferocity... which is a really nice touch. So the audience really feels the loss of Evelyn but then, wonderfully, her son manages to resurrect her (and Nefertiri co-sharing her body) and she returns to kick ass and help out in the final battle between good and evil. This is all sold really well and, once again, my hats off to the writer/director. 

Anck-Su-Namun also has her own resurrection scene earlier in the movie and I suspect it’s more than just coincidence that it plays out near a body of water... which I suspect is a veiled reference to scenes which were shot but, alas, excised before release - and never re-found - of a scene between Boris Karloff and Zita Johann in the 1932 production of The Mummy (reviewed here). 

Unfortunately, due to various reasons (depending on who you believe), Jerry Goldsmith didn’t return to score this one... instead we have Alan Silvestri doing his own thing with the music and, although I wonder how good a Goldsmith soundtrack might have been for this film, Silvestri does a really good job at bringing some big themes and exciting action music into this one. 

And I think that’s me about done on The Mummy’s Return. Definitely not a jump on movie, you’d have to see the first one if you want to get the most from it but, still, a great action adventure tale with a lot of humour and, once again, the writer/director makes the audience feel like they’re in on the joke with all the genre clichés and tropes... rather than being treated as idiots. I have a lot of time for this director... and these movies... and they’re just the ticket if you want big, periodical action mixed into your viewing experience. A pretty great sequel, it has to be said. 

The Mummy (1999)

In My Humble 
Opinion... Tep!

The Mummy (1999)
USA 1999
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Universal UK Blu Ray

I remember when this version of The Mummy first came out in cinemas. I was worried about it because I love the Universal monster movies of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and I was concerned that Stephen Sommers, who was said to be making more of an action adventure film, would be doing the concept a disservice. Then I went to the cinema and saw the finished product for myself and, wow, I absolutely adored this right from the start. I remember The Matrix was released in the UK about a week later and I remember hating that one and thinking, why didn’t I just go see The Mummy again rather than pay out for that. I did see this film a few more times at the cinema though and, even though it has several mistakes (which the director gleefully points out in his informative old US DVD commentary... I’m assuming this is the same one ported over for this Blu Ray) it’s still an absolute masterpiece.

So, the film is a strange tonal hybrid in that, yes, there are certain scenes, mostly in the first half, where Sommers is definitely playing with the film in terms of the horror genre and, although there are a few great fight sequences in the first hour, he really does push the creepiness of the concept a lot more than, I think, people realise once they get caught up in the next hour. So, for example, the sequences where The Mummy is first brought back to life and runs around in the tomb as panicked archeologists and treasure hunters try to escape him are the film very much going into good old fashioned horror mode. There’s even a creepy prelude culminating in a jump scare in an early scene which takes place in a library and sets up one of the characters.  

But there’s more to this as the film is injected with a good dose of old 1930s-50s adventure movie serial components, pushing the Indiana Jones aspects of the film and ratcheting up the action and nostalgia stakes that come with that territory. And it’s done with a huge dose of humour which, yeah, could have gone terribly wrong for the movie but, because the script on this one is so good and, because the various actors are so brilliant in this, Sommers manages to pull it off with ease and, in doing so, he created a lasting classic which still endures and holds up now. 

As for those actors.. we have Brendan Fraser who is, frankly, brilliant in the role of adventurer Rick O Connell, playing him with a lot of humour and confidence. We have Rachel Weisz as librarian Evie, who is a kind of feminist version of a 1920s heroine and gives as good as she gets and, indeed, even has a penchant for inflicting eye injuries on her foes (in at least two scenes). We also have John Hannah playing her kid brother Jonathan, who is used as comic relief and is a nice contrast to Fraser’s leading man, the two playing off one another nicely. 

Arnold Vosloo as title character Imhotep is absurdly good in this role and almost a likeable and sympathetic character, if he wasn’t so determined to kill everybody in horrible ways. Kevin J. O'Connor as the weaselly Beni (who had the best line in Sommer’s earlier movie Deep Rising and steals many of the greatest scenes here) is probably the absolute greatest thing about this movie, playing a character so disloyal he ends up helping Imhotep in order to both stay alive and make off with a load of treasure but who, to paraphrase the words of lead character Rick O Connel, gets what’s coming to him. 

Lastly, there’s Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay and the gorgeous Patricia Velasquez as Princess Anck Su Namun. Both of these characters and their respective actors would get much bigger roles in the first direct sequel, The Mummy Returns. 

As for the direction, editing, cinematography etc... this is also a technical masterpiece... despite the mistakes which have either been edited around or, in some cut sequences, actually created by the editing with shots that either don’t quite match or defy logic if you happen to latch onto them (again, Sommer’s commentary is really worth listening to, if it’s the same one that he did for the initial DVD release). 

For instance, when everyone is running around and trying to escape the mummy’s tomb when he is first revived, one of the characters loses his glasses. What happens next is that when the camera is a point of view from that character or from just behind the character looking away from him, he blurs the focus to imply a POV shot. But here’s the thing, the camera then pans around to this character and the shot changes into sharp focus... within that same uninterrupted shot (and he does this a couple of times in this sequence). So, yeah, that’s the first time I’ve caught a director literally implying a change of POV within the same shot... brilliant stuff. 

He also uses the camera and editing to give us some nice transitions. Such as a moment where Evie and Jonathan are looking at the map. We then cut to a close up of the map before cutting away to Jonathan and Evie and a third character talking about the map in a different location. It’s not a new way of doing things but it’s a nice bit of visual shorthand and it works very well. 

As do some of the visual wipes used in the film. For instance, when Fraser jumps diagonally down into a chamber entrance in the ground, into a tomb in the city of Hamunaptra, a visual wipe follows him diagonally down, revealing him and Weisz already in the tomb. Nice stuff. 

Another thing the director does which really helps lift the film where others trying to capture the same magic have failed, is that he lets the audience in on the joke. For instance, the sudden appearance of wind and atmosphere going nuts when anyone says anything dark and filled with foreboding is certainly a genre cliché and here Sommers does it at least three times. But, here’s the rub, he does it so unsubtly and so self consciously, that the audience realises right off the bat that he’s doing it tongue in cheek. It’s like he’s winking at the audience and saying, it’s okay to not take this seriously... we certainly aren’t. And to spell that out even further, there’s even a scene where it happens yet again and Brendan Fraser says... “That happens a lot around here!” It’s a nice touch and makes all the difference to the way the film is received... the audience are invited to laugh along at the absurdities and genre clichés right along with the actors on screen, elevating the experience accordingly. 

Another great thing about this movie... Jerry Goldsmith. I was at one of many of his concerts I attended over the years and, in at least one of them, he played a suite of music from The Mummy. He told the audience he was really struggling with it and didn’t think much of the movie until he at last found a way to have fun with it. When the sequel came up, he turned it down citing scheduling conflicts and, while Alan Silvestri provides a great score for the sequel, it means the franchise suffers from the same lack of musical continuity that modern Marvel and DC movies have... which is a shame. Even so, Goldsmith’s score for The Mummy is outstanding and, for my money, in the top twenty scores of his long career. The camel race is especially beautiful, as is the heavy percussion which comes in right at the end and the shot transitions to everybody setting up camp in Hamunaptra. It’s easily one of the greatest scores he did around this time and the modern, expanded version of the CD with the entire score on it means I no longer have to leave the old US DVD on the languages menu if I want to hear it in total... as the full score playing from start to end was an easter egg on that disc if you stay in that menu. 

Oh, and about the old DVD... for the British readers here. The Mummy was uncut at our cinemas but had some cuts made for the UK home viewing versions at the time. For instance, the extended hanging scene from near the start of the movie, which in real life caused Brendan Fraser to pass out, was heavily truncated on the UK home video releases. Which is why I would only touch the American release of this movie back in the day. I’m pleased to report that the UK Blu Ray (which is now in a single clasp case with the two direct sequels), has had those cuts waived, so it can be watched properly again in this country now. 

And that’s me about done on this one. Rewatching it now was a real trip and the film holds up very well. I’m looking forward to revisiting the sequels very soon... well, the first sequel at any rate. I’m hoping that the third movie will maybe have grown on me over time. I’ll report back here on those soon.

The Curse Of La Lllorona

La Llo Land

The Curse Of La Lllorona
2019 USA Directed by Michael Chaves
UK cinema release print.

There came a point in The Curse Of La Llorona, which I saw a couple of weeks early due to a preview screening in my home town, where I saw one of the actors playing a priest and thought to myself, he always plays this kind of role. Well, when the actor, Tony Amendola, returns a little later on in the film he brings with him a reference cameo of an iconic figure from four other films and it made me realise, Amendola was playing exactly the same character he played in one of those movies. That is to say, although it’s a small cameo from a demon haunted artefact and, specifically for this other object, totally in flash back, it’s made quite clear that this film is firmly part of The Conjuring universe.  Specifically, if peripherally in this case, linked in to The Conjuring (reviewed here), The Conjuring 2 - The Enfield Case (reviewed here), Annabelle (reviewed here), Annabelle Creation (reviewed here) and The Nun (reviewed here).

So, given the track record of these previous linked movies (the only one I didn’t like too well was the first Annabelle stand alone), it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to find that this new movie is actually pretty well put together. I mean, yes it’s very clichéd and there’s nothing that’s really going to take you by surprise... story wise at least, it has the occasional okay jump scare... but this is one of those films where the timing of the scares and build ups to those with all the creeping dread going full on is actually handled pretty effectively.

There’s some nice photography in this including, after the initial plot set up, a really amazing, high speed moving camera powerhouse of a shot introducing the main protagonist of the film, played by the wonderful Linda Cardellini (who played my favourite character in Avengers - Age Of Ultron) as she gets her daughter and son ready for school. It’s a frenetically paced shot and it must have been well rehearsed to get everybody caught at various points in the sequence with the right timing and I really appreciated it. There’s a lot of smooth movement and a lot of static shot sequences filling the screen at various points. Alas, there is quite a lot of telegraphing via the camerawork in the film also... you kind of know that, when things shift into hand held territory (and when there’s a different, almost inaudible background bass ambient sound suddenly faded onto the foley), something pretty scary is about to happen. But, like I said, it’s all done very competently and works pretty well for what it’s supposed to be achieving.

I mentioned the children in that last paragraph as this is what the film focusses on as the objective of the supernatural entity known as La Llorona, who comes from a Mexican folktale and is apparently pretty well known outside of the story elements of this movie. A weeping woman who comes after the children to help replace or make amends for her own two children, who she drowned in an act of jealousy centuries ago. She also, in this version of the myth and, obviously, to make the film both more exciting and to give story follow through on certain dramatic elements of the plot, burns your flesh when she touches you.

The set up of this one is that, once she has taken the children of Cardellini’s neighbour, played here by beautiful model and actress Patricia Velasquez (you may remember her as Anck Su Namun in The Mummy movies), in an uncharacteristically unglamorous role, La Llorona turns her attention to Cardellini’s children, for reasons which I won’t spoil here but, there’s a definitive story beat revealed much later in the film as to why this is happening to her children specifically. We also have another cliché of a character in the outsider shamen who turned his back on the church who can help exorcise La Llorona using his ‘questionable methods’, played here with much charisma (in a kind of negative charisma kind of way) by Raymond Cruz. I actually liked this character so much that I’m now hoping he will return in one of the other Conjuring related movies at some point but, I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

The other big star of the movie is, of course, Joseph Bishara’s fantastic score which hits all the usual, atonally distressed horror points you would want in such a movie. It provides a good deal of the jittery atmosphere during the key scare sequences and I’m looking forward to hearing this in isolation away from the film (thanks to the powers that be for putting this one out on CD, even if you can only get it as an ‘on demand’ CD from American Amazon... still keeping my fingers crossed we’ll get a CD release for Insidious - The Last Key at some point).

And that’s... a very short review but there’s not much more to say other than The Curse Of La Llorona utilises the usual camera tricks of things seen at the periphery of the screen to make it more frightening so... yeah, that modus operandi is still very much in practice here. One thing I might add would be that the special effects are quite well done and, in this case, the inevitable demise of the demonic presence is, actually, quite spectacular (it would be true to say that she gets a bit cross) and, in a way, harkens back to the old days when Hammer Horror were churning out Dracula movies. So, yeah, not much else to add other than... it’s a solid, modern horror movie which will best be enjoyed by fans of the same. Looks and sounds pretty good with some believable performances from all involved. Go take a look if this genre is your thing.