Brendan Fraser Told The Rock How Even The CGI Team Was Not Happy With The Way The Mummy Returns Came Out: ‘It’s Charming In It’s Own Way Now

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You know, I recently heard something fascinating – apparently, we might owe Dwayne Johnson’s film career to Brendan Fraser! The story goes that Fraser signed off on then-WWE star Dwayne Johnson being cast in The Mummy Returns. But honestly, while that movie did help launch The Rock into superstardom, it’s also pretty notorious for having some truly awful, hilariously bad CGI – some of the worst I’ve ever seen, considering how much money these films usually have!

In the recent CNN & Variety Actors on Actors between the two Mummy Returns stars, the pair talked about how they were never actually on screen together, because Johnson’s only physical scenes were set in a different era, and his later appearance in the finale was…rough, due to some famously bad CGI. Fraser said…

Looking back, the way you reappeared—with those special effects—is actually kind of endearing. It’s funny, it really reminds me of the graphics in old video games, doesn’t it?

While The Mummy Returns (released in 2001) had visuals reminiscent of early PlayStation games, that wasn’t necessarily a problem given the then-developing state of CGI. However, considering Jurassic Park came out years earlier, the film’s final boss, The Scorpion King – who looked more like a lobster – didn’t hold up well in comparison.

Brendan Fraser shared that the creators of The Scorpion King actually knew the creature’s design wasn’t working, even back then. He recalls them admitting as much to him at the movie’s premiere.

I chatted with the visual effects team at the movie premiere. I complimented their work, and they mentioned they wished they’d had more time to finish it.

As a huge fan of visual effects, it really worries me to learn that artists are constantly under pressure to rush their work. I recently read that even going back decades, like to the late 90s, effects artists were struggling with tight deadlines. It’s frustrating to think that even massive productions like recent Marvel movies haven’t been able to avoid this issue – it sounds like the quality of the effects sometimes suffers because the artists just don’t have enough time to perfect them. It’s a long-standing problem, and I wish studios would prioritize giving these incredibly talented people the time they deserve.

Let’s be honest, the visual effects for The Scorpion King were quite challenging for the time. Building the monster’s body was feasible, but creating a realistic human-like head with CGI has always been difficult, even today. In 2001, achieving that level of detail would have taken a significant amount of time – time they didn’t seem to have.

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2025-12-12 04:08