• The Mummy Returns

• Alan Silvestri
• Sinfonia of London Orchestra and Chorus
• Decca
• 2001

I think it would be fair to say that no matter how hard he tries, director Stephen Sommers is not going to be the next Steven Spielberg. The Mummy was a pretty good sub-Raiders of the Lost Ark type effort and after the surprising success of the format, a sequel was put into the works and so, in the grand tradition of the Batman films, we have The Mummy Returns (so, presumably looking forward to The Mummy Forever and then maybe Mummy & Daddy?) which is of course bigger, louder and more spectacular than the original. The original was campy fun, but the humour this time seems more strained and pathetic with what credibility the original had now dispersed by a deus ex machina riddled plot and some silly sequences that certainly sound like fun in theory, but are simply daft on screen and not aided by some sub-par effects work.

Jerry Goldsmith's exciting, tuneful original was warmly greeted on release and become one of his most popular scores for some years. However, Goldsmith subsequently revealed his dislike for the film and refused to score the sequel. Something Goldsmith should have done previously, on Rambo for example. It was with some rejoicing that the services of Alan Silvestri were summoned for the sequel and what an effort it is. In fairness, I mean that more along the lines of it simply being massive in scale and effect, even if it isn't actually as brilliant as it might have been. The opening is certainly impressive and comes across more as a golden age epic with some Alfred Newman style high end strings and Miklos Rozsa chorus. The use of the choir is fairly sparing, which definitely lends it more impact at suitable moments. Silvestri's music may be over the top by most standards, but he at least deploys his tactics with some modicum of common sense.

The sequel contains more outright action sequences than the first film (which is probably its biggest downfall - they just get tedious after a while) and Silvestri's action scoring has improved in almost every film culminating in probably his best genre effort, Judge Dredd. Indeed The Mummy Returns contains a few Dredd like moments in the darker, crushingly percussive and brass laden sections. Silvestri has also penned a nifty pair of action motifs which both appear in full flight during Evy Kidnapped. One is a David Arnold type affair, but the other is pure Silvestri, containing his favourite augmented fourth (as in the Back to the Future fanfare) as well as a short, surprising key change when the phrase repeats. Silvestri doesn't actually do much with either motif by way of variation, but wisely limits the number of appearances to prevent the thrill button approach from wearing too thin.

The quieter moments are the least interesting parts simply because the thematic material here isn't always as strong. A Gift and a Curse has lots of orchestral skittering, fine in a slow burn horror effort, but rather insubstantial here. The romantic theme for Rick and Evy is nice, but when given a subdued treatment simply can't hold its own against the bracing action music, but it serves well in a more epic Lawrence of Arabia type way. A new choral motif appears in Medjai Commanders and several reviewers have pointed out sounds like John Debney's SeaQuest theme. True enough, but for those whose soundtrack collection goes back further than 1977, it is even more similar to Rozsa's King of Kings. It works well and certainly gives the score some more dignity. The other choral moments contain some interesting effects as well as providing something approaching Goldsmith's "march of the undead" type cues from the original in tracks such as Rick's Tattoo.

The music from the finale of the film isn't included, probably due to time constraints, however, The Mummy Returns is a perfectly thrilling album finale and from what I recall, the real finale music from the film offers little new. Forever May Not be Long Enough is a kind of lame hard rock song that tries to be edgy, but isn't. It doesn't quite fit, but it makes a change from yet another cheesy ballad. Overall, an interesting mixture of old and new styles that work better than the should. It is only really during the quieter sections does Silvestri need to sharpen the writing. Ideally they need to be a little more expansive or stronger thematically. They are nice unto themselves, but are simply overwhelmed here and the romance is certainly somewhat flat compared to Goldsmith's. Although the score is far from sounding disjointed, the relentless pace and choppiness of the film doesn't allow for quite the number of set piece cues that Goldsmith was afforded. Arnold had Independence Day, John Debney CutThroat Island and now this is Silvestri's mega epic score and it's quite a ride. Not perfect, but thrilling entertainment all the same.

Rating ~