The Mummy Review
by Aaron Michaels (michaels AT freeway DOT net)May 21st, 1999
THE MUMMY
*** (PG-13)
Rick O'Connell: Brendan Fraser
Evelyn: Rachel Weisz
Jonathan: John Hannah
Imhotep: Arnold Vosloo
Beni: Kevin J. O'Conner
Directed and screenplay by Stephen Sommers. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for pervasive adventure violence and some partial nudity).
BY AARON MICHAELS
The Mummy is the first big movie to come out this summer. It follows the summer movie formula to the last recipe (usually a bumbling idiot of a sidekick) and offers up a fine appetizer for what is to come this summer.
Loosely based on the 1930s classic The Mummy with Boris Karloff, the 1999 version burrows much more from the Indiana Jones films. Brendan Fraser plays Rick O'Connell who is a gung-ho hero who is the only one alive who knows the location of a secret land which may hold great treasures. A kindly, if not accident prone, librarian Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) finds a secret map and
key which may be related to the secret land. She along with her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) get Rick out of an Egyptian prison and plan to go searching for what Rachel wants the most, a lost book she has been admiring for quite sometime that is of great importance (not to mention made of pure
gold). Jonathan doesn't much mind the riches that are said to be there either.
The three travel to a hidden temple where they find a book. Not the gold book but the Book of the Dead. Rachel, being the fool she is, deciphers the reading inside the book and reads them aloud. This causes an ancient curse to awake from inside the temple. Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) was a ruler who was condemned to the worst punishment before electric chairs, being mummified alive. The mummy Imhotep breaks from his casing and after he has regenerated he will try to bring his dead lover back to life using a sacrifice. So Rick, Rachel, and Jonathan along with a team of treasure hunters who just happened to be looking for treasure too try to survive the mummy's curse
Industrial Light and Magic has provided some of the best visual effects of recent years and they continue to with The Mummy. ILM turned actor Vosloo into the living dead with amazing results. I can't wait until a director decides to make a zombie film using today's technology. They also create some great images using sandstorms and plagues.
The actors seem to have a fun time. Fraser seems well placed as the hero and delivers the typical one-liners very well. Vosloo probably deserves the most credit though. He delivers his lines with such gusto it is fun. It's also cool since he probably had to talk to the effects people before making any movements. Weisz seems a bit out of place but still is good and delivers some good bumbling comic relief.
The one thing I would tell anyone planning to see The Mummy (which is a good idea) is that is dumb. I'm not saying I didn't like it but the movie is predictable. You can tell when jump scenes are going to occur or when a character is going to "buy it". The movie is very fun though. Much like an update of the classic monster movies of the past.
I would recommend The Mummy to most anyone who likes a fun movie that will give them something fun to do for 2 hours. Teens will lap it up but I wouldn't take the little ones to this picture. The decaying Imhotep and the massive visuals may leave them with nightmares. Go into the movie with an open mind and think of all the cheesy but fun monster movies of earlier that you loved as a kid and secretly love to this day.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
