The Mummy Returns: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 2 (Blu-ray High Definition)

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In the summer of '99, almost everyone's attention was focused on George Lucas because the first thing this dinosaur-level director did upon his return was to bring a brand-new "Star Wars Prequel" for every hardcore Star Wars fan. No one noticed director and screenwriter Stephen Sommers and his remake of the classic from the '70s, "The Mummy."

However, it was this adventure film co-directed by a second-line director and starring second-line actors that managed to gross $400 million under the nose of Star Wars, ranking as the 31st highest-grossing film in global box office history. In fact, this was not a coincidence; Director Sommers had already shown his superb ability to handle pure entertainment films in his previous work, "Deep Rising." Sommers clearly knew what the audience wanted to see, so within a limited budget, Sommers abandoned excessive character development and focused the main show on special effects and action scenes. Some of the CG effects in "Deep Rising" could even rival those in "Jurassic Park," making it a classic B-grade entertainment film.

In '99's "The Mummy," besides using a large amount of special effects, Sommers also learned a few tricks from Spielberg, with Indiana Jones-style humorous segments making the film have a good rhythm, giving it a bit of a new-school Indiana Jones feel. The scene in the movie where the mummy uses magic to summon a sandstorm that swallows a biplane whole has been regarded as a high-quality testing segment by AV enthusiasts.

For the film's huge success, Universal Pictures, the studio behind the scenes, made a "quick response" and announced in the second week that a sequel would be released. The production cost skyrocketed to $100 million, with Sommers continuing as the director. Brendan Fraser, who became rapidly famous in "The Mummy," signed on to reprise his role as adventurer Rick O'Connell with a salary double that of the first movie. Brendan's carefree appearance seems to have quite a bit of audience appeal. After "The Mummy" was released, many fans recommended Brendan to replace Brosnan as the next 007.

The adorable female librarian Rachel Weisz from the first film becomes Mrs. O'Connell in this installment, but it's said that her adventurous spirit hasn't changed at all. And Mr. John Hannah, Mrs. O'Connell's brother, continues to create comedic atmosphere in the film. With all our heroes returning fully in the sequel, the villains are also back in full force, especially the charming young girl playing the mummy's old lover, Patricia Velasquez from Venezuela, who only appeared briefly at the beginning and end of the last movie. This time, she plays a major role, and fans will certainly feast their eyes. As for the complaints from some female fans that the mysterious tomb guardian Ardeth Bay's screen time was too little in the first film, Sommers also gave this Israeli actor plenty of opportunities in the sequel, allowing him to be cool again.

Friends who watch satellite TV may be familiar with the popular wrestling performances abroad, which are actually those big fat guys pretending to fall. This time, Sommers came up with the idea of hiring WWF's "The Rock" Johnson to play the main villain, the Scorpion King, and will also make the Scorpion King the protagonist of the future prequel of "The Mummy," which is also a kind of hype.

The background of the sequel is set nine years later. Adventurer Rick and his library lover Evelyn are now a loving couple with a lively and equally adventurous son named Alex. On a family trip to Egypt, Rick accidentally discovers an ancient bracelet, but unfortunately, he is pursued by a group of tomb raiders due to this bracelet. After enduring countless hardships and returning to London, the bracelet inexplicably takes root on Alex's wrist and can no longer be removed. It turns out that this bracelet is a magical artifact used to summon the great evil Scorpion King. A group of crazy people digging up the City of Death have already revived the mummy and his lover through the Book of the Dead. If they manage to recruit the Scorpion King into their ranks, they will achieve their sinister goal of world domination. But they must get the bracelet first, and thus begins a fierce battle between gods and demons in London...

Filming began in Morocco in May 2000 and post-production was completed in London in September of the same year. The entire film, whether in terms of plot arrangement or special effects production, will be more explosive and exciting than the first one. I believe that the $100 million production budget gave Sommers plenty of room to maneuver, and "The Mummy Returns" will definitely not disappoint fans of pure entertainment films.

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