'THE MUMMY RETURNS' did feature a good deal of action sequences that seemed more like an adventure than a horror story – thank goodness. What can I say? Those pygmies really freaked me out. Not only did the movie’s heroes have to attack the cultists in order to save Alex, both sides of the conflict had to deal the pygmy mummies that attacked and killed anyone or any army that marched through the jungle. But if I had to select the one sequence that truly captured aspects of the horror genre, it was the one that featured the O’Connells’ attack upon the cultists in the Ahm Shere jungle that I found particularly off putting.

The sight of the Scorpion King as a transformed centaurid (or scorpion-monster) was enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. This was especially apparent in the scenes that featured Imohtep’s murder of the three mercenaries, the O’Connells’ battle against the high priests mummified soldiers during the bus ride through London and during the finale sequence inside the Scorpion King’s pyramid at Ahm Shere. However, the movie has enough elements to satisfy those who love this particular genre. And considering my dislike of horror films, I say “thank God”. I could say the same about ' THE MUMMY RETURNS'. But I noticed that the 1999 movie, 'THE MUMMY' seemed more like an adventure film in the style of the INDIANA JONES movie franchise. The four adults track him to Egypt, where they recruit the help of Rick’s old World War I friend, Izzy Buttons, to rescue Alex from Imhotep and the cultists and prevent them from reviving the Army of Anubis. After the O’Connells, Jonathan and Ardeth manage to escape the army of mummified soldiers, Alex – who is still wearing the Anubis bracelet - is kidnapped by the cultists. Rick, his brother-in-law Jonathan Carnahan, Alex and Ardeth arrive at the museum to rescue Evie. They plan to use his power to defeat the Sorcerer King. The cultists take her to the British Museum, where they resurrect the body of Egyptian high priest and sorcerer Imhotep. The O'Connells' old comrade, the Medjai warrior Ardeth Bay, arrives to help, but is unable to prevent Evie's kidnapping.

Unfortunately, a group of Egyptian cultists, who had hired the three thugs, invades the O'Connell estate and kidnaps Evie. The family returns home to England, and unbeknownst to his parents, Alex tries on the bracelet and experiences a vision with directions to the Oasis of Ahm Shere. Evie and Rick discover the bracelet of Anubis, unaware that Alex has stumbled across a trio of mercenaries attempting to take the bracelet for themselves. The movie jumps to the year 1933, which finds the O'Connell family - Rick, Evelyn ('Evie') and their son Alex - exploring the ruins of Thebes. But once their task is finished, Anubis claims the Scorpion King's soul and his army. The Army of Anubis sweeps across Egypt, destroying everything in its path. The latter creates an oasis called Ahm Shere to hide the newly dubbed Scorpion King's pyramid and gives the latter a legion of humanoid jackal warriors to seek revenge. The latter offers his soul to the god Anubis for the power to defeat his enemies.

He and his army is exiled to the desert of Ahm Sher, where most of them die from heat exhaustion, except for Mathayus. However, this flashback focused on an Egyptian mercenary named Mathayus, who makes an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the land. Like the first film, 'THE MUMMY RETURNS' began thousands of years ago, in ancient Egypt. In doing so, Sommers and Universal created a four-movie franchise.

Two years later, both the director and the studio reunited its major stars for a sequel set a decade later. 'THE MUMMY', the 1999 remake of the 1932 horror film proved to be a major success for filmmaker Stephen Sommers and Universal Studios.

The mummy returns movie rating