Brandon Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo
I Can't Believe They Were Scared of a 3000 Year Old Dead Guy
The first of many "summer" movies to be released this year. These are the movies that are short on story or believability (is that even a word?) but long on effects and stuff that makes you go "Wow!" Just look at two of the other movies already released or soon to be released. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Wild Wild West, both of which have big stars (Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor for Star Wars and Will Smith and Kevin Kline for Wild Wild West) sweet special effects and huge bugets and both are expected to make truckloads of money. The Mummy doesn't have quite as big of hype or anything (and Brandon Fraser isn't nearly as big of a star), but it does offer a good dose of summer blockbuster to tide you over.
Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and Jonathon (John Hannah) try to escape The Mummy
The story of The Mummy began over three thousand years ago during the reign of Seti I in ancient Egypt. We learn that Seti is very protective of his mistress and no one but him is allowed to touch her. However the Pharaoh's High Priest, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo, Zeus and Roxanne), is in love with her and with her help they assasinate Seti. The mistress is then forced to commit suicide before the Pharoah's guards get to her, however Imhotep has the power, along with the "Book of the Dead" to revive her so they can live together forever. Before he can finish the chants the Pharoah's guards capture him and all of his priests and punish them with death by mumification (which would be very unpleasant if you were still alive to feel it). Imhotep gets a worse fate by being burried alive with hunreds of scarabs (flesh eating bugs) nawing at him for years and years. The only problem is that Imhotep can also be revived if someone finds his body and recites the incantations and when he is revived he will bring great plagues and disease throughout the world. Because of this the guards pass down from generation to generation the secret and vow to protect the tomb so that no one can revive the mummy. For generations wars were fought on the Hamunaptra (the "City of the Dead" where the mummy is burried) without the armies knowing exactly what they were fighting about. And then we came to the 1920's (maybe it was the 1910's) where Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser, School Ties and George of the Jungle) and an entire legion is fighting near Hamunaptra where he realizes something is up. Pretty much the rest of the movie is Rick and his soon to be woman Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathon (John Hannah, Four Weddings and a Funeral) competing with another team searching for Hamunaptra searching for its fabled riches. After finding the city they find Imhotep's body and of course accidently revive the Mummy so they must try to stop it before it destroys the world.
Rick and Evelyn run into the creature
As I said this kind of fits the mold of "summer" movies meaning you really have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy it. Pretty much all of the plot is hard to swallow but once you do the effects are pretty cool and the acting is all right. But the thing I enjoyed most about it is the fact that it is a horror/action flick but it doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a lot of comedy elements that make it enjoyable instead of you just going "Yeah right!" through the whole things. There are plenty of funny lines for all of the main characters, there is one character named Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor, Deep Rising) who is a great combination of comedy and sleaziness that adds relief to the plot. There are also little things that just make you laugh that they threw in just for fun. In short The Mummy will never win any awards (except for maybe for effects) and it doesn't really deserve critical acclaim, but it is an enjoyable movie that is worth the few bucks you have to shell out to see it.
