`The Mummy Returns'.(The Dallas Morning News)

Moviegoers, not to mention those dour beings known as movie critics, grow leery when a title features such words as "Return" or "Strikes Again"

With "The Mummy Returns," there's no reason to moan. For the most part, director/screenwriter Stephen Sommers trumps the winning hand of his initial 1999 "Mummy" reincarnation.

The new film's sets are more lavish and its special effects are more garish _ typical qualities of the Summer Sequel Syndrome. However, "The Mummy Returns'" bonus is its strong sense of humor, composed of visual and sometimes even verbal wit.

The movie is definitely skewed to a teen-and-under audience, but its gleeful fun should appeal to all age brackets. As the debut entry in the 2001 summer movie derby, "The Mummy Returns" rocks.

The new adventures occur in 1933, a decade after the first film's conclusion. Hero Rick (Brendan Fraser) and heroine Evie (Rachel Weisz) are now happily married and the doting parents of a precocious (would you expect anything else?) 8-year-old son Alex. The initial scenes of domesticity carry danger signs. The couple's amorous banter appears forced, and their offspring, played by newcomer Freddie Boath, seems a calculated nod to audience demographics.

As the movie progresses, Boath's youthful Alex grows more appealing. His skill with a slingshot is just the beginning of his capabilities. He also boasts an insatiable curiosity and a beaming serenity that unhinges the nerves of the wicked souls who kidnap him.

Evie and Rick's relationship also grows more convincing, with Weisz's alluring persona a fine balance for Fraser's unyielding boyishness. Evie is a much more active participant in all the shenanigans than the typical action-flick heroine. In fact, the movie's most memorable one-on-one combat is between heroine Evie and villainess Anck-Su-Namunh (a vibrantly ominous Patricia Velasquez). The latter is the centuries-old enamorata of unearthed mummy Imhotep (the understandably somnolent Arnold Vosloo). But these women are not content to simply stand by their men. They kick butt regally in the manner of those mythical crouching tigers and hidden dragons.