Movie

The Mummy Returns (2001)

The Brendan Fraser Mummy trilogy – which spans nine years of production and three decades in setting – delivers adventure, thrills, and humour. While the cast is mostly male, the women who feature are heavily involved in the action.

Returns takes place in 1933, nine years after The Mummy (1999). In the same vein and time period as Indiana Jones, the movie thankfully avoids including Nazis. Instead, the heroes battle mercenaries, Egyptian cultists, weird pygmy creatures with blowpipes, and an undead horde led by the Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock). And Arnold Vosloo as the title creature, Imhotep, reprising his role from the first film. Even with his immortal soul trapped in the underworld, this guy won’t stay dead.

Franchise fans will already be familiar with Rick O’Connell (Fraser) and Evelyn (Rachel Weisz). Her oafish brother Jonathan (John Hannah) and the Egyptian Medjai (Oded Fehr) are back for another adventure too. Rick and Evelyn have married since we last saw them, and now have a son, Alex (Freddie Boath). It seems the hero’s derring-do has rubbed off on his wife. Evelyn is no longer a timid librarian, but an action girl at ease with firearms and unnerved by danger.

The prologue introduces the Scorpion King and his pact with Anubis, who granted him an all-conquering army in exchange for his soul. The resurrected Imhotep and his reincarnated lover want dominion over the undead, and the heroes must save the world again. Alex becomes an unwitting pawn when he puts on the bracelet of Anubis, which reveals the way to a lost oasis but imposes a seven-day time limit. Not to worry – if anyone can handle the extra pressure, it’s the O’Connells.

Villainess

Meela / Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velasquez)

The Pharoah’s mistress was introduced in the first movie, but her only appearances were a flashback set in ancient Egypt – expanded upon in Returns – and the showdown in the City of the Dead. Later scenes had her wrapped in rags, and she looked decidedly unpleasant.

Villainess fans will be happy that Patricia Velasquez has a lot more screen time in the sequel. She plays a dual role: Anck-Su-Namun and Meela, a 1930s scholar with memories of her past life. Meela has inherited the treacherous Egyptian’s evil traits and leads an expedition to dig up Imhotep’s remains. When scarabs devour her workforce, she views them as expendable.

After her mercenaries fail to recover the Scorpion King’s bracelet, Meela travels to London to handle the situation personally. There’s a great villainous moment when she mistakes Jonathan for Rick and threatens him with a poisonous snake. Fortunately, the American hero saves the hapless Englishman. Undeterred, the villainess kidnaps Evelyn, leading to an action scene at the British Museum where the Mummy returns (get it?) from the dead yet again.

Meela is even nastier in Egypt when she threatens the young Alex and tricks her mercenaries into opening a cursed chest. The evil Imhotep – now regenerated – restores his lover’s soul. Reincarnation is a major plot theme, and we learn Evelyn was once Nefertiri, the Pharoah’s daughter, in a past life. Cue another ancient Egyptian flashback and a melee combat duel between the two masked women.

The final battle takes place at an oasis sanctuary. With the henchmen wiped out by pygmies, it boils down to three concurrent battles: Rick vs. Imhotep (until a CGI Scorpion King joins the fray), Medjai vs. the undead, and Evelyn / Nefertiri vs. Anck-Su-Namun. The villainess kills the heroine before this, leaving Jonathan to fend off the more skilled princess. Fortunately, the Book of the Dead provides the means to restore Evelyn back to life. Then comes the rematch, when she fights her nemesis with twin sais and wins.

The ending is a tale of two romances. With the Scorpion King defeated, his lair collapses. Evelyn risks her life to save Rick, but Anck-Su-Namun abandons Imhotep to his fate. The anguished expression on his face is quite touching. Imhotep was mummified alive, all for misplaced love. The self-serving villainess doesn’t last long, falling into a scorpion pit and earning a just reward for her betrayal.

Honourable Mentions: The Mummy Series / Reboot

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) – Choi (Jessey Meng)

Action shifts to China for the third entry, but many story elements remain. Once again, villains dig up a mummified evil-doer and resurrect him for their own ends. Jet Li is the title emperor, a merciless ancient commander with power over the elements and a cursed terracotta army. Martial arts fans will find Li’s contribution disappointing because, other than a few fights, it’s all CGI, shape-shifting, and magic.

Now in the 1940s, Alex has grown up and Maria Bello replaces Rachel Weisz as Evelyn. There’s an in-joke about her being “a completely different person,” but the heroes lack chemistry. Dragon Emperor is a lacklustre effort, and the same could be said of its villains. A Chinese general named Yang wants to restore his nation’s past glory, aided by his female lieutenant Choi. The scarred villainess mostly stands in the background, with the odd evil smile to remind us she’s there.

Choi’s best moment is when she confronts and subdues Evelyn at a museum in Shanghai. The villainess literally draws blood before the two women fight. Victory goes to the good girl, and Choi is then absent for most of the movie. No female villain for the street chase with literal fireworks, a shootout in a Himalayan monastery with Yeti, and a resurrection in Shangri-La. The final confrontation is at the Great Wall of China, with two undead armies in an epic battle.

Michelle Yeoh features in a supporting role, but she’s wasted and her only action scene is a brief fight with the Emperor, which ends badly. Choi finally returns, but only to briefly fire a jeep-mounted machine gun before a bomb blast destroys the vehicle. Before the Emperor is laid to rest, Yang shows up. The heroes get the better of him, and a bloody-faced Choi – who survived the earlier explosion – dies while attempting to save her superior.

The Mummy (2017) – Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella)

It’s rare that the first film in a planned series is a franchise killer. But this ill-advised reboot is the reason you’ve never heard of the Dark Universe.

Tom Cruise plays the hero (anti-hero?) Nick Morton, an uncharismatic military guy who moonlights as a tomb robber. After he unearths the sarcophagus of a mummified Egyptian princess, he envisions the beautiful woman calling to him. The villainess mind-controls Nick’s comrade and flocks of birds to crash a cargo plane, leading to the only decent scene in the movie.

Ahmanet is a poor rip-off of Imhotep with none of his threat or interesting backstory. The modern-day London setting is dreary, and introducing Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde (Russell Crowe) feels completely out of place. The female mummy resurrects Nick’s dead buddy, vanquished foes, and crusader knights to fight beside her. She also has unnatural strength, but despite her godly powers, the encounters are boring. A sandstorm in Britain doesn’t have the appeal of a desert backdrop.

Ahmanet’s goal is to summon the Egyptian deity Set – a plan she failed to accomplish in ancient times – with Morton as the host. Eventually, he stabs himself with a sacred dagger to complete the ritual (!), uses his powers to defeat the villainess, and becomes… a mysterious creature. Nothing makes sense, and with the Dark Universe dead, this is the last we’ll see of this unpleasant character. As for Ahmanet, she deserved a much better script.