During a retrospective on some of the most popular movies he ever starred in, Brendan Fraser addressed the infamously bad GCI for Dwayne Johnson's the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns.
While Universal's The Mummy Returns is regarded as a stellar sequel to its predecessor, which came out two years before, the movie is also known in the worst way possible for the CGI creation of the Scorpion King. The special effects are typically regarded as so bad that it almost ruins the film experience for fans everywhere. In Fraser's retrospective, he shed light on how those who had worked on the character felt when the movie was released.
In an interview with GQ, Fraser detailed how those who had done the CGI on the character were wary of how he looked in the final product when The Mummy Returns premiered. However, Fraser, to this day, sees it in a positive light despite its flaws. "They kind of went, 'Yeah, we needed a little more time.' It was very last minute, but some of the charm of it is that when you watch it now, it could get remastered, I guess? But it kind of wouldn't be as fun if you didn't see this sort of janky, video-carrying character of Dwayne going 'Rahhh!' Somehow it's just perfect how it works, how things work out."
Even though The Mummy Return has one of the most infamously bad CGI characters of all time, fans have to remember that back then, Hollywood's use of CGI was still more or less in its infant stages. Funny enough, it was The Mummy franchise that basically revolutionized how to use that ingredient in filmmaking itself. Also, keep in mind that the Scorpion King character marked the feature film debut of Johnson back during his heyday with the WWE and when he was best known as "The Rock." While the character's CGI was embarrassingly bad, it did introduce Hollywood to Johnson's skills as an actor, which has made him a movie star in Hollywood even to this day.
Props to Fraser for not only acknowledging that the character's CGI in The Mummy Returns is as bad as it is but also looking on the bright side of it. We've seen Hollywood figures vigorously defend unanimously poorly received products by audiences either because they are too prideful to admit that something they did was bad or they just want to be a contrarian because it makes them feel special. Fraser is among the exceptions who will call a spade a spade in this case, and that can be rare to see nowadays. It also speaks to Fraser's character that despite a flaw like the bad CGI sticking out like a sore thumb, he has a sense of humor about it.
It's times like those that make it easy to root for Fraser to get his popularity back as an actor. He has a reputation around Hollywood for being a nice guy and being friendly with his fans. It's rare to see a big-time actor like him be so down to earth, but that's who he is, and that's part of his charm. Seeing that come back into the fold makes for one of the greater Hollywood stories people have seen over the past few years.
The Mummy Returns is available to rent on multiple platforms.
Source: GQ/YouTube