The Mummy Returns

It's archaelogical business as usual for Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and Egyptologist Evelyn (Weisz), who are now happily married with a gifted sand-building youngster called Alex (Boath). It's Alex who stirs it up this time round by inadvertently slipping on a gold bracelet his parents recovered on one of their numerous adventures. Big mistake. This very bracelet is the key to unleashing a chain of events that will obliterate the world. After being banished to the sands of time, the Scorpion King (The Rock) and his enormous army of dog soldiers are about to return. Meanwhile, the original mummy, Imhotep (Vosloo), has been re-resurrected and he wants control of the Scorpion's army. Where the original successfully integrated several different genres - lightweight horror, tongue-in-cheek kitsch, Raiders-style high adventure - the sequel goes overboard to please its target pre-teen audience with an indigestible plot that unfolds like a computer game. Still, it looks good and the battle sequences are well staged, even if the screenwriters have lost their sense of fun.