a TRUE FANEDIT by Gaith 1999’s The Mummy remains the best archaeology-themed adventure movie since Raiders of the Lost Ark. The sequel was a disaster, but THE MUMMY RETURNS had had some worthwhile elements. This version carefully digs them out. member ratings: (4 votes, average: 6.50 out of 10, rated)  Loading ...

EDITING DETAILS:
I honestly believe that (InfoDroid’s fan edits aside) 1999’s The Mummy remains the best archeology-themed adventure movie since Raiders of the Lost Ark. And while there’s no question that The Mummy Returns was a travesty (not only overlong and boring, but positively damaging to the integrity of the first film’s characters), I think it does have an interesting core story.

To wit: The Mummy introduced two couples, Rick and Evelyn and Imhotep and Anck-su-namun. The Mummy Returns questions if their respective loves are indeed real, or simply infatuations. The perils of the Scorpion King’s pyramid will put both relationships to the test. Admit it… that’s a reasonably unique story hook for an action movie sequel, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, this decent and fun flick was buried under lame jokes, lazy plotting and frankly gross insinuations about Evy’s former life. If she’s partly an ancient Egyptian princess, then she’s also partly not her son’s mother, and that’s just messed up. I have therefore removed these noxious elements, as well as any narrative scenes that don’t inform the overall emotional arcs (viz., the Scorpion King intro).
Because at least two superfluous sequences could not be removed invisibly (Evy’s death, the collapsing oasis), I have added a handful of atmospheric title cards, as well as an introduction that humorously explains the necessity of their use. Thus, while my editing is not invisible, I nevertheless hope that the viewing experience is technically seamless. This unconventional method was a last resort, but I’m not apologizing for it. Besides, there may be future rescue attempts by the Des Moines Adventure Film Society!

Fanedit history and making:
One warm summer day in 2001, I staggered into my Northern California house. I was nearly fifteen, and had just seen The Mummy Returns, the sequel to my second-favorite film, in a nondescript multiplex where the suburs bleed into the countryside, and the shimmering inland heat had made the car ride back an almost otherworldly experience. While an unusually loud sound system and the spectacle-filled extravaganza had, in conjunction with my considerable anticipation, somewhat dulled my senses, I was dimly aware that the film I’d just seen was not very good. The plot was underthought and often baffling; indeed, one dead character from the first film had somehow been resurrected before the events of the second, and with no explanation whatsoever. While some humorous moments – particularly in the film’s first half – recalled the sly self-referentiality that still makes its predecessor a lively watch, an alarming number of the jokes had fallen flat. And while the sumptuous costumes, majestic score and enchanting scenery had made for a thrilling cinematic experience, there had simply been far too much action that added little to the story or themes. (The celebrated film critic Roger Ebert agreed, writing “Imagine yourself on a roller coaster for two hours. After the first 10 minutes, the thrills subside.”) Still, while all my friends agreed with the popular consensus in labeling the film a disaster, I knew that the picture had had some worthwhile elements. Maybe someday, I thought, I could take to a computer and dig them out.
Throughout the following years, I never got that opportunity, and though I tried revisiting the film on serval occasions, I only became increasingly dismayed by the experience. Still, once or twice a year, I’d take wistful looks at screenshots collected online, and gradually memorized the complete sequence of scenes. I even came up with a favorite theory as to how the aforementioned reincarnation had occurred. My ambition to someday make a fan edit of my own never entirely subsided (indeed, I also found another film I wanted to redact almost as badly – 1985’s Weird Science), but until the summer of 2008, I continued to view any practical possibility of such an effort being at least a few years away. Thanks to the terrific folks of the Fan Edit Forum, however, my dream of eight years has been realized. It is therefore my honor to present to the fan editing community (and anyone who owns a legitimate copy of the theatrical cut) the result, The Mummy: Year of the Scorpion.

CUTLIST: view spoiler:

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