Bust out the beach chairs and the suntan oil, it’s summer again. What? It’s too early? Not by Hollywood’s calendar! In my opinion, summer begins as soon as that first wannabe blockbuster hits the multiplex. This year’s harbinger of the season is "The Mummy Returns." This flick has everything a summer movie should — big special effects, lots of action, a fantastic storyline — but for some reason, it still left me a little cold.

This film is, of course, the sequel to "The Mummy," the smash hit of Summer ’99 that re-invented the mummy movie for a new generation. With that film, writer/director Stephen Sommers crafted a creepy and fun adventure with eye-popping visuals and a cheeky sense of humor. The movie was just a freakin’ good time so I was jazzed to see the sequel, especially since the trailers made it look like it would be even better than the original.

This year's harbinger of summer is The Mummy Returns.

"The Mummy Returns" takes place about 10 years after the events in the first film. Adventurer Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) has married librarian Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and they trot around the globe finding artifacts with their precocious eight year-old son, Alex (Freddie Boath). Their discovery of an ancient bracelet finds them at the beginning of a new adventure. The pace picks up quickly, not giving us enough time to contemplate how kind the years have been to Rick and Evelyn. They don’t look two months older than the last time we saw them, let alone 10 years.

Rick and Evelyn are soon drawn into a race against time to stop the Scorpion King (played by WWF superstar The Rock), an ancient warrior whose resurrection could bring about the end of the world. Whoever defeats the Scorpion King after he awakes will control his vast army of vicious undead canine soldiers. The victor can send them back to the underworld or lead them to world domination. Preventing the rebirth of ancient evil and stopping armies of the dead is hard enough, but Rick and Evelyn soon learn that a dastardly gang of fortune hunters has also revived their old nemesis, the evil Imhotep. If he reaches the Scorpion King first, all hope is lost.

The filmmakers just want to assault you with gee-whiz visuals and non-stop action.

The story takes our heroes from Egypt to London and back. There are chases and fights galore. A subplot about reincarnation adds a new spin on the events of the first film and helps explain how mousy librarian Evelyn is able to kick so much butt in this movie. But this flick isn’t really concerned about story and character. It just wants to assault you with gee whiz optics and nonstop action. We get one knockout effects sequence after another. This movie is definitely more ambitious, but it lacks the spark of the first film.

Throughout the whole thing, I just got the feeling that writer/director Stephen Sommers was more interested in pyrotechnics than a compelling story. Gone is the sly humor and moody atmosphere of "The Mummy." The movie’s few attempts at humor are forced and the chills are few and far between. I wish Sommers had spent less time trying to top his previous film and more time building on its strengths. The movie can be a lot of fun. There’s just not much heart here.

The movie can be a lot of fun. There's just not much heart here.

You probably think I should lighten up. This is a big, dumb summer movie, remember? If I want heart, go rent "Terms of Endearment." Summer is for eye candy. Big noise! Big thrills! Big box office! I enjoy popcorn movies as much as the next guy, but this film just feels very mechanical. Even the thrills seem hollow. Probably my biggest problem is that I wanted to like it more than I did. After a lackluster fall and a pretty ho-hum spring, I was hungry for a good flick. A movie that would inspire more than a shrug as I left the theater. And while "The Mummy Returns" is an awesome spectacle, it still left me wanting.