Amac Productions

The Mummy Returns and Rick is over it.

I mean, could you blame him? Really?

Like this is what he needs. He’s got a good life. A wife. A kid. A pain in the butt brother-in-law that he does genuinely love. He’s seemingly rich as hell. What more could the man ask for?

Perhaps his wife and child to stop touching things that have curses placed upon them.

Poor guy.

I mean, I love Evie, do not get me wrong! I want nothing about her to change. At all.

Nor her son, Alex. They’re delights.

I do – however – think they have shaved a considerable amount of time off Rick’s life though.

After watching this, I was scrolling through the tag on Tumblr, and someone said the most unrealistic thing about this movie given the sheer chemistry between the leads – is that they only had two children. I must say, I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all.

I think they thought about it.

And Rick realized that he already struggles to keep the three he’s got alive. Never mind adding a fourth to this family. Surely, he cannot manage to protect four of these people who have no regard for personal safety.

I mean, just look at this movie. He’s distracted for two seconds trying to save Alex and while he’s still catching his breath, Evie is murdered.

Seriously, Rick took a good look at his future and thought – I cannot manage more than three.

Even at the beginning of the movie, he’s struggling to keep them safe!

We arrive in London and he’s desperately trying to convince Evie not to go off on another adventure. Please. Alex puts the bracelet on and unleashes who knows what downstairs while he’s doing that. Meanwhile, Jonathan is being threatened in his room by people also looking for the bracelet.

Rick probably had a vasectomy.

Nope. Sorry, honey, can’t risk it.

Now, about the movie itself. I do love this movie to pieces. It’s an excellent sequel, that doesn’t really retread the first one which is nice in and of itself. It’s not as good as the first, but it’s still a good follow-up.

I love that Evie and Rick are completely in love and the conflict for them doesn’t come from falling in love a second time. I hate when movies do that. The think only the build-up to falling in love is interesting so they continue that throughout every sequel even though the couple was already together.

Instead, here we get a natural progression of their romance.

They’re married, in love, and have a child. The relationship has evolved. They’re more comfortable with each other than in the first movie. They know each other better.

They tease each other.

“You’re not subtle dear.”

“I think he remembers you.”

They flirt with each other.

“Have I kissed you today?”

“Are all librarians this much trouble?”

They’re still in love with each other. As smitten as they were at the end of the first movie. Much to the chagrin of everyone around them. Like their son, and Jonathan, who both groan, and walk away every time they get mushy with each other.

I love that they’ve rubbed off on each other as well. Evie is far more confident and a capable fighter and a decent shot with a gun than she was in the first movie. While Rick had a good grasp of history before, we can see his wealth of knowledge has greatly increased as well. He’s less depressed and less in a dark space than he was before.

It’s a very sweet, very real thing that happens to couples.

Then – of course – there’s Alex, who is a wonderful mix of the two of them.

He’s got his mother’s brains and curiosity, penchant for trouble. Like when he keeps shooting the bad guys at the beginning with his slingshot and knocks down the pillars. Just. Like. His. Mother.

He’s got his father’s arm and attitude. Tough and unafraid to give the bad guys BS like his dad would. Smart enough to know to stop the train before trying to jump out. Cunning. Clever. Gets water to leave his parents a map to follow him when he’s kidnapped.

And smart enough to understand when he needs to ask for help because he’s annoyed one of the bad guys so much, he’s planning to murder him.

It’s really amusing that this bad guy’s ultimate foe was an eight-year-old with a smart mouth.

“Lady, I don’t listen to my parents. Why would I listen to you?”

Perfect. Love it. No notes. Please give more Alex in the Mummy Four. Thank you.

One of the other things I loved about this movie was something my girlfriend wants. The kid doesn’t stop the adventure. They just become part of it. So many people believe that kids would hinder a movie like this or get in the way or we can’t do something dangerous because we have a child around.

Yet this movie sets out to prove them all wrong.

This kid is smart and able to hold his own because of what his parents taught him.

He’s still a kid. Don’t get me wrong. He’s allowed the space to be a kid and understands that he can help his parents to find him and keep himself safe along the way. But he is still a kid, hoping his mom and dad will save him.

He’s still devastated when his mother is seemingly lost to them. Only to come up with the very solution to save her life.

Which oddly, makes it the second movie I’ve watched recently where the kid does the saving.

Alex doesn’t get in the way of the adventure or the story. He adds to it. He adds to his parents’ lives and his uncle’s. I really love that he’s part of the movie and not an annoying thing we have to deal with.

Arguing with his uncle. Telling his dad that he’s a good dad. Leaving clues. Giving the bad guys grief as often as possible. He comes up with the idea to save his mom and does it.

Much like the romance having evolved between Evie and Rick being a fresh change of pace instead of rehashing falling in love again. Alex is a refreshing change of pace by being an actual part of the story, not a plot device, or nuisance. It makes it all the more enjoyable to watch.

For those reasons alone, I can overlook the weird ass plot happening with the Scorpion King and the Mummy suddenly caring what year it was or understanding exactly why he has been summoned. They don’t even bother to really explain how this all entwines and I’m good with that. I will overlook plot holes any day of the week, if you give me good character beats.

Like Jonathan.

Evie reminds him that her son and husband are down there and asks him to make her proud. For all his bluster and terror, he promises that today is that day. Then does it.

Because here’s the thing, I do truly believe that Jonathan is a former soldier who saw things he can never unsee. Thus, making him the drunk that he is to cope with it. However, there is nothing about him that isn’t brave.

Sure, he pretends that he’s not.

Sure, he’s terrified. But he does it anyway.

Which is far more important. He protects the people he loves as much as he can. Evie was dying and he did all he could to reassure Alex and comfort him. When Rick raced off to kill those responsible, Jonathan stayed with his nephew to console him. Then helped him to bring her back.

Which involved confronting someone who could probably kick his ass.

He is brave. I love how they portray him. Seemingly useless and afraid. But under it all he’s a good man.

Those moments – I love.

So I don’t really care if the plot makes a hundred percent sense.

I love the beats in between. I love Ardeth trying to convince Rick that he’s a soldier of god. His sadness over losing Hoarce. His fight and defeat over the other dude.

The battle at the end when they’ve seemingly won and Ardeth is thinking the same thing I am – that was too easy.

But all of them stand their ground, despite the overwhelming odds. I love it. I love Ardeth when he’s happy to take the Tommy gun instead of the shotgun. Then his little question to Rick.

It was sort of adorable watching him try to convince Rick that he’s something more than he thinks.

Only for Rick to be practically smacked upside the head with it later.

I really do not care that the past life thing feels a little wedged in there, because it does work so well. It also sort of makes sense why the Mummy wanted to use Evie in the first movie. A bit of payback, perhaps?

I don’t know.

All I know, is that works to add so many layers to the story between them. Why it was Evie who found him in the first place. Why Rick ended up on a path with her.

It does work.

I love the weird friend Rick has that also owns a plane. How many people he know that just randomly has planes?

Love the entire bus sequence. Especially ending it with Ardeth saying it was his first bus ride and Jonathan absolutely freaked the heck out. Evie with a shotgun is also something that should be praised.

Oh, and when we started this movie, my girlfriend was like they have a budget now. Which yes. The movie is pretty thrilled about it. Happy and willing to use that budget on as many effects as they can manage that they could not the first time. Until we get to the end of the movie and realize we do not have a budget to make the Scorpion King look good.

Oops.

Yet strangely enough, it works. Because the movie is so freaking hokey. It works.

Overall, I love this movie. Not as much as the first one. Since I’ve only watched this movie twice and I’m starting to lose count of how many times I’ve watched the first one at this point.

However, ultimately, my favorite moment in the entire movie is when Evie saves Rick.

Because there was no question she was crossing that room of falling debris to pull him back from that abyss. No question. Even Rick knew it, watching her face, timing the falls.

He knew.

And he tried to get her not to.

Told her to run.

Take their family and run.

But she couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

Instead, she runs across the room, dodging the falling rocks, and other things that could smoosh her flat as a pancake. Jumps to his side and heaves him back onto solid ground to save him and run for it.

Proving without a doubt, that they love each other. More than their own lives. They would risk it all for each other.

Something that Imhotep can understand, given his entire life. Yet, when push comes to shove, his love, abandons him.

Here’s where this movie is great, along with the first one. I’ve actually felt bad for Imhotep since the beginning of the first movie. He was in love with someone and yes, he murdered the pharaoh and that’s definitely bad, but he did it for love.

That is an easily understandable action.

Then for that, he lost her. Tried to bring her back. Was cursed with a curse so awful they never wanted to use it. Mummified alive. Dropped into his box with bugs that ate him alive. With not one, but two locks to ensure he could never escape.

And if he did, he would become a plague upon mankind.

That’s really horrible actually.

He didn’t ask for that power. It was thrust upon him, and he was compelled to carry it out. Which I cannot blame him for wanting to destroy everyone when the world was so cruel to him.

I mean, I think that was a bit much.

You could have just executed him instead of giving him unimaginable power. I mean, how does that work?

You did a bad thing, so we’re going to do several more bad things to you, curse you, and if you ever wake up, you’ll have more power than you know what to do with. Sure, right. I always give my hated enemies superpowers. Right.

Anyway, he wakes up and attempts to bring his love back once more. He’s still in love with her after all this and thousands and thousands of years. That’s broken, she’s killed again, and he’s sent to the Underworld.

How lovely.

He wakes again. Finally gets his love back.

Only to discover that after all this BS he’s gone through, she doesn’t love him enough to cross one dangerous room after all he’s endured to bring them to this point. To be together.

After all that, she leaves him to die.

Like my goodness, that moment when with tears in his eyes he says her name so softly, lost, and sad. Pained in ways I cannot imagine. His mummification probably hurt less than this. Or possibly even more now because it was all for nothing. For a true love only he felt.

Ouch.

Imhotep. Definitely a bad guy. Still did not deserve all that.

I love when movies can make you feel like that.

Like shit, dude. I’m sorry she didn’t love you the way you loved her. But if makes you feel any better, she was also just eaten to death by bugs. So maybe, you can give her shit in the afterlife.

He didn’t deserve that after all he went through for her. Like damn.

However, I love that Evie and Rick would do that for each other. Great moment. Best in the movie. By far my favorite.

Overall, I loved this movie and am excited to see the new one whenever that drops! I’m sure I’ll do a write up on it when it premieres!

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