Issue: "Attack and dissent," May 19, 2001
The EditorsThe Editors

The Movies

Culture

1
The Mummy Returns $68.1 million
1 week in release
$68.1 million to date
CAST / DIRECTOR / STUDIO
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz / Stephen Sommers / Universal Studios

PLOT
Escapist nonsense about a couple of adventurers racing to stop the dreaded Scorpion King from conquering the world.

CAUTION
Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence. Contains lots of pulp-Egyptology: mummies, occult magic, reincarnation, etc.

BOTTOM LINE
This film begs not to be taken seriously beyond the good guys vs. bad guys level. One action sequence simply piles upon another from start to finish.

2
Driven $6 million
2 weeks in release
$21.5 million to date
CAST / DIRECTOR / STUDIO
Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue / Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) / Warner Bros.

PLOT
Noisy action movie about a racecar driver who comes out of retirement to help a promising rookie.

CAUTION
Rated PG-13 for language, suggestive content, and some intense crash sequences.

BOTTOM LINE
This is little more than an attempt to revive Stallone's career while appealing to the auto-racing crowd. The scant story serves to stitch together races, chases, and crashes.

3
Bridget Jones's Diary $5.7 million
4 weeks in release
$44.4 million to date
CAST / DIRECTOR / STUDIO
Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth / Sharon Maguire / Miramax Films

PLOT
Quasi-update of Pride and Prejudice, recounting the exploits of a 30-ish Londoner trying to choose between two suitors.

CAUTION
Rated R for language and strong sexuality.

BOTTOM LINE
Well-acted but sadly set in a world where virtue and honor have nearly opposite meanings than they did for Jane Austen.

4
Spy Kids $3.8 million
6 weeks in release
$98.4 million to date
CAST / DIRECTOR / STUDIO
Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino / Robert Rodriguez (The Faculty) / Miramax Films

PLOT
When their secret agent parents are captured during a mission, a brother and sister set off to track them down and reunite their family.

CAUTION
Rated PG for action sequences. Also contains some bad language.

BOTTOM LINE
A fun-filled adventure that should appeal to parents and children alike, both for the quality of the storytelling and the strength of the film's pro-family message.

5
Along Came a Spider $3.7 million
5 weeks in release
$60 million to date
CAST / DIRECTOR / STUDIO
Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter / Lee Tamahori (The Edge) / Paramount Pictures

PLOT
A Secret Service agent and a police detective unite to find the kidnapper who abducted a congressman's daughter; based on the James Patterson novel.

CAUTION
Rated R for violence and language.

BOTTOM LINE
Admittedly implausible and occasionally flat, but nonetheless a thriller without sex or extreme violence.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Mummy Returns opened the summer movie season with a box-office bang: a non-holiday weekend record of almost $70 million. What audiences saw was an over-the-top explosion of special effects and action sequences. Nothing in the movie (Universal Studios, rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence) plays for anything but put-your-brain-in-neutral-style escapism. The Mummy Returns revels in its roots-old pulp-fiction magazines and Boris Karloff-with loads and loads of computer-generated effects. This sequel brings back the leads from the original (Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz), who are now married with a son (Freddie Boath). The bad guy is the Scorpion King (The Rock of WWF fame), who made a deal with an evil pagan god that he and his armies would conquer the world. In the midst of the movie is a long series of chase scenes, martial-arts routines, and shootouts. Beyond good guys and bad guys, the plot is incoherent except as a way to build moment upon moment. Of course, this is no family movie: It includes B-movie horror occult elements such as resurrected mummies, pyramids, tombs, evil werewolf-like warriors, and a magic "bring Mommy back from the dead" spell. But at least the conquer-the-world deal with the devil meets an unintentionally biblical end-failure.
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