The Mummy Returns

100 episodes ago, I covered The Mummy (1999). It's still the greatest movie ever made. The Mummy Returns, the 2001 sequel to The Mummy, was always going to struggle to live up to the fun, charismatic original (especially in my eyes)Nowadays, The Mummy is revered as a modern classic that reinvigorated pulp action adventure movies, but The Mummy Returns languishes in the sand dunes of Hamunaptra for its visual effects; which are often labelled on the internet as "the worst VFX shot(s) ever".But The Mummy Returns was always planned to be bigger in scale and scope, and that included visually. Writer/director Stephen Sommers wanted to eclipse the original with more monsters. In many ways, The Mummy Returns achieves that desired upgrade, in others it doesn't. It has grand ambitions, even though it doesn't quite meet them.20-year-old visual effects are never going to look great against modern standards, especially when the visual effects team were struggling with time and budget constraints. Maybe it's about time we cut The Mummy Returns some slack, and appreciate what it does do well? It may not reach the high heights of its predecessor, but it's a fun sequel that deserves your appreciation. Corridor Crew's fix for the "worst VFX shot ever" is available to watch here.I would love to hear your thoughts on The Mummy Returns! The previous episode on The Mummy can be found at https://www.verbaldiorama.com/episode/the-mummy-1999GET IN TOUCH.... Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.comSUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA.... Leave a 5-star rating/review: Apple Podcasts or Podchaser Join the Patreon: https://verbaldiorama.com/patreonThank you to all the patrons Simon E, Sade, Jardiel, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Jason, Kristin, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Emily, Michael, Scott, Mark, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Dan and Sam!Buy Merch! https://verbaldiorama.com/merch Tees, mugs, hoodies and totes are available!EPISODE THANKS TO....Most excellent patrons:Andy from Geek Salad for his Patron thoughts. You can find Geek Salad @geeksaladradio on TwitterGriff from The Paul and Griff Show for his Patron thoughts. You can find The Paul and Griff Show @paulngriffshow on TwitterAnd Brendan for his Patron thoughts, too!Subscribe, follow and listen to Geek Salad in your podcast app of choice!Twitter peeps@DWLundberg@Oral_mfc@shaylayy@JLWChambers@switchenvelope@90s_all@TheMiddleborneInstagram folk@friendlysparpod@thedigressorFacebook chumsNone this timeTheme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme SongMusic by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studios.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacyOP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy