AMG Review of Mummy Returns (Soundtrack)

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Screenwriter and director Stephen Sommers of the 1999 remake of #The Mummy is back for its 2001 sequel, along with the film's principal actors, notably Brendan Fraser. But Jerry Goldsmith, who scored #The Mummy, has been replaced for #The Mummy Returns by Alan Silvestri. Silvestri takes advantage of the film's period setting as well as its harking back to an earlier era of filmmaking to compose a score reminiscent of many movies in a similar genre. This is one action-adventure score that was not performed on synthesizers by the composer. Rather, Silvestri employs the Sinfonia of London Orchestra and Chorus, which is well-suited to his purposes. From the sound of the score, there can be few quiet moments in the movie, which like its predecessor combines old-time B-movie theatrics with state-of-the-art special effects. Silvestri keeps up with those effects by writing highly dramatic music full of sudden climaxes, martial beats, and big themes. When he has a little breathing space here and there, he evokes Middle Eastern motifs that recall #Lawrence of Arabia, and his final theme music has a sweeping melodic feel very much in that vein. But most of the time, he is accompanying eye-popping visuals, and his music is suitably oversized, with the wordless chorus often doubling the tension-filled strings. Silvestri certainly isn't reinventing the wheel here, but rather using tried-and-true movie music methods to support the plot points in what is clearly a large-scale horror-adventure tale. The album concludes with an anachronistic pop/rock song by Live that also uses some exotic motifs.