The Mummy Review
by Vince Yim (***xieze-qilin*** AT bc DOT sympatico DOT ca)May 7th, 1999
Review: The Mummy (1999)
Starring Brandan Fraser, Rachel Wiesz, John Hannah
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Reviewed by Vince Yim
(May 6, 1999)
Based on the Boris Karloff's classic by the same name, The Mummy starts off with the high-priest of Osiris, Imhotep, who murders the pharoah for his mistress and is punished by being mummified in the most horrifying way possible -- bandaged up, having his tongue removed, and being covered in flesh-eating scarab beetles, then entombed...all while still alive.
Recap a few thousand years later, where a soldier named Rick (played by Brandan Fraser) aids a young historian named Evelyn (played by Rachel Wiesz) and her brother, Jonathan (played by John Hannah) in finding the book of Amon Ra, in the process inadvertently freeing the Mummy. Problem is that the Mummy wants to revive his mistress, using Evelyn as a sacrifice...
Walking in with relatively low expectations, I thought this movie was actually pretty good. The visuals and CGI are astounding, and obviously not cheaply done at all. They pack a ton of detail into the images, especially during scenes involving mummies rendered completely by CGI.
The computer special effects makes for some brilliant scenes, such as unnerving moments involving flesh-eating scarab beetles and moments where the Mummy goes after the people who freed him (after all, those who took his artifacts are cursed).
Unfortunately, the film attempts to be way too much in such a short span of time, becoming a tug of war for control between genres. On one hand, it is a fast paced action film. On the other, it's a frightening horror film. And on the side, it's a hilarious comedy.
Ideally, for it to be successful, the film would have to focus on one the more action oriented aspect, with one character serving as the comic relief (that would be Johnson). The problem with this film is that it has at least three characters serving as comic relief, with Rick occasionally delivering his witty one-liner. If they were trying to make a horror-action-comedy, it would have helped if it were established early on in the film, but unfortunately, with the backstory of Imhotep's entombment, that would be impossible.
And then there's the slapstick fight scene between a sword-wielding Rick and an army of mummies. While really well done, it had the feel of slapstick comedy. Replace the sword with a chainsaw and you'd effectively have Ash fighting zombies in Army of Darkness. While entertaining and funny, it feels really out of place. But at least it's a break from the naive heroes that Brendan Fraser has been playing a lot of.
On the whole, the movie is pure popcorn fare from beginning to end, entertaining the audience. But I must end my review with a plea to movie theatre owners...TURN THE SOUND DOWN! While a lot of theatres have good sound systems, my ears were almost ringing as I walked out of the theatre (the sound is particularly irritating and will make you crap your pants if you're not careful). When they were showing the trailer for the upcoming Schwarzenegger film, "End of Days", it was so loud I couldn't make anything out.
Rating: 7/10
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