Directed by Stephen Sommers
Written by: Stephen Sommers

Brendan Fraser .... Rick O'Connell
Rachel Weisz .... Evelyn 'Evie' Carnahan O'Connell
John Hannah .... Jonathan Carnahan
Arnold Vosloo .... Im-Ho-Tep
Donna Air
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje .... Lock Nah
Freddie Boath .... Alex O'Connell
Oded Fehr .... Ardeth Bay
Dwayne Johnson .... The Scorpion King (as The Rock)
Patricia Velazquez .... Anck-Su-Namun

Produced by Sean Daniel (producer), Bob Ducsay (executive producer), James Jacks (producer), Don Zepfel (executive producer)
Original music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography by Adrian Biddle
Film Editing by Bob Ducsay

PG-13 - for adventure action and violence

GREAT SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS FOR DISCUSSION
Spiritual concepts hightlighted in red

Review by MIKE FURCHES
mike@furches.org
Web site www.furches.org

Mike is the Senior Pastor at United at the Cross Community Church in Wichita Kansas. United at the Cross is a church made up of individuals not often accepted in other churches. The church consists of former gang members, drug addicts, prostitutes and others. Mike also speaks nationally on various topics and is a freelance writer. To learn more about Mike and his ministry link onto www.furches.org. In the arts Mike has worked with top music artists such as Steppenwolf, Marshall Tucker Band, Kansas and has an active interest in film. Mike is pictured with his music band "Route 66."

If you enjoyed the original film The Mummy you are in for a pleasant surprise. The Mummy Returns brings back virtually the entire original cast plus a few new comers including, Freddie Boath as Alex, the son of Rick (Brendan Frazer) and Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) O'Connell.

Another newcomer who surprisingly does not get nearly enough screen time in my opinion is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the Scorpion King. "The Rock" a real life professional wrestler is a very pleasant surprise. While professional wrestling is now billed as "sports entertainment" as opposed to "real sport", it should be no surprise that "The Rock" is a talented actor. He did such a good job for the brief time he was on screen in a venue other than wrestling that some will be surprised.

Is this a great film? Obviously, no. Is it a fun film in the tradition of Indiana Jones? You bet. The cast is excellent and you will leave the movie feeling good.

On a scale of 1 - 10 The Mummy Returns deserves a very enjoyable 7.5

FAMILY STRENGTH AND SACRIFICE
Subject: The_Mummy_Returns
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001
From: Roger

I didn't like the themes of reincarnation in the story -- but what I did like was the message sent about the value of family loyalty and even sacrifice. The willingness to risk for the sake of the one that is loved (parent for child, wife for husband) was demonstrated among a number of scenes.

HOLLYWOOD NEEDS TO INTERPRET THE SIGNS!
Subject: Spy Kids and The Mummy Returns
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001
From: "Steve Forsyth"

Between this film and The Mummy Returns, we have seen that Hollywood can produce films with pro-family messages when they try hard enough. What I think is really cool is how well Spy Kids has been received. With no language or sexual innuendo (an increasingly disturbing trend in many of todays "family friendly" films), this film still managed to turn a coimmanding profit - it's still playing in the min theaters in my town after several months!

Why doesn't Hollywood realize that there is a HUGE market for well-made films that are also family friendly? If you look at the current list of TOP TEN money making films, you'll find few if any R-rated films. You find the likes of Home Alone, Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park - I suppose the most "offensive" film on the list I can think of off the top of my head is Titanic. These are mostly clean and family friendly films. So why does Hollywood keep churning out other films filled with such garbage? I'm always thrilled when a quality film like Spy Kids does so well - it just reinforces the point that families DO see movies if they are put out for them to see. I hope there will be more like this in the future!

WAR BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
Subject: review of The Mummy Returns
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2001
From: Gary

THE MUMMY RETURNS
The Mummy Returns is a movie that has a lot of good special effects. It also is about a war, the war is evil vs evil vs good. The first evil is a Scorpion king (the Rock) who sells his soul to an evil god. He sold it so he could kill his enemies and this evil god saved him. The other evil is the same one from The Mummy (Imhotep). He is still in search of immortality but now he has his lover back, so he wants to be wants her eternally. The good is Rick (Brendan Fraser), Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), their son Alex (Freddie Boath) and the Magi who are chosen by God to fight evil. Each side wants and needs the other two sides to be dead before they can win.

It is good for the people who like watching movies a lot of special effects. Also it has a kid who is really smart but he is annoying sometimes. It is really funny and it has action from beginning to end. The bad of it is that the special effects are all mummies and people or mummies dying. Also the dead get raised a lot in this movie. The movie is a little long (over 2 hours) but it goes by quickly.

The kid puts on the bracelet of the scorpion king and he gets kidnapped. Now the parents, Rick and Evelyn, have to save their son before he is killed. They also will have to defeat the two evil powers by destroying thee scorpion king and his army as well as Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) and his lover and their followers.

WOW! A FAMILY THAT STICKS TOGETHER
Subject: The_Mummy_Returns
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001
From: Steve

How many times have we seen a sequel where the romantic leads from the first film are no longer together. Perhaps there is a new actor or actress, or perhaps they've been married then divorced - but rarely do you see a married couple in an adventure. I suppose Hollywood finds this "unsexy." But I sat through the whole film just in a buzz over how in love the two were and how important their son was to them. Add to this the lack of language and sex and gore (ok, it was a little violent, but ultimately free of offensive elements). Let's hope this IS the beginning of a new trend.

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Steve

THE MUMMY RETURNS REVIEW
Subject: The mummy returns review
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001
From: Monica

I think it is true that this movie can give ppl a thought that mummys are our future(?). In the movie, ppl's spirits never go to their own world(Hell or Heaven) as christians believe and most things are controled by magics. Especially the mummy's face was quite scary and the idea of 'one's body never dies with magic' wasn't sound good for me. However I enjoyed this movie and it didn't affect me any ideas of Egyptian magic , I don't think its b/c i'm very religious its just how serious we care sbout this kind of movie. I just watched it as a 'movie'
Monica Kim

REINCARNATION AND ARMAGEDDON
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001
From: Starr

The Mummy Returns is a continuation of the first movie the Mummy. Rick(Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn(Rachel Weisz) are now married and have a child. All three of them are fascinated by ancient Egyptian artifacts and hieroglyphics. The three of them end up fighting 2 evil forces to preserve the world from catastrophie.

I found this movie to be scary and exciting at the same time. It is action packed, and has many great special effects to it. There are many different shots and angles which keeps the movie interesting. It had many scenes that represent meanings to them as talked about in my Media Studies class. When introduced to the Scorpion King, he was found at the top of the frame to portray his dominance & power, and when Rick fights him, he is at the bottom, to show his powerlessness. Something else I enjoyed was the transition of the beginning scenes. Some parts faded into the next scene which I liked very much. The end credits were neat in that they wrote first in Egyptian hieroglyphics and then it switched to English.

Now I was a bit hesitant to go and watch this movie, but it was good that I did. The movie had many topics that bring up disscusion. One theme in the movie was of reincarnation. This was shown throughout the whole video with the idea that the Mummy and his lover came back to life. Although this is an Egyptian belief I don't believe in this. This movie challenges the christian belief and makes one wonder if it could possibly be true. But as a Christian I know that reincarnation is not biblical; a man only dies once and doesn't rise again.

The Scorpion King, and Rick, his family and the other Magi Warriors fight an great battle which some could say symbolizes Armageddon. "The evil soldiers rose up like endless grains of sand and come against a handle full of faithful warriors". This is very biblical in the way it was portrayedand as it states in the bible the good side wins, and Jesus regins again. This faboulsly staged battle was half animated and turned out very realisic. It is very captivating, with its life-like characters. I liked this movie and recomend it to people who want to see a new twist on the story of good and evil.
Gloria

ANNUBIUS VS. GOD?
Subject: The Mummy Returns
Date: Tue, 8 May 2001
From: "Mike Parnell"

I saw the film yesterday and I was taken by the fact that one of the key elements of the film was the role played by Annubius and God. Annubius was the author of the army that came from the sands. God was the guide of Rick. Rick was to be a Magi based on his tattoo. When Im-Ho-Temp crossed over into the golden pyramid he had his power taken away by Annubius. He stated that it was Annubius's will he fight as a human. Yet in the end it was God who had the victory, because the good guys won (which is more Hollywood than theology). My point in all of this is that the film is more about Zoroastrianism, which held that there would be a battle between good and evil, but the outcome of it was uncertain. Both good and evil had equal power and therefore the victor was not known.
Mike Parnell