I want my "Mummy."

"The Mummy"

Reviewed by John Haywood.

Overall Rating: ***½

"The Mummy" opens in Ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh's high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) commits two unforgivable sins: having an affair with Pharaoh's mistress, Anck-Su-Namun, then killing the Pharaoh when the affair is discovered. For his crimes--which later also include trying to resurrect Anck-Su-Namun--he is condemned to spend eternity being eaten alive by scarab beetles. Like Prometheus, Imhotep proves that people who are supposed to spend eternity being eaten alive seldom do. In his case, an ambitious young archeologist, Evelyn Carnarvon (Rachel Weisz) will soon find a soldier, Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) who knows the location the legendary city Hamunaptra: home of tons of treasure, Imhotep, and the mummy's curse.

As you might guess, special effects are a staple of "The Mummy." Fortunately, while a number of the special effects shown in the previews have a very animated quality, these make up the minority of the visual effects. Most of the stunts and special effects are very impressive. As with any good action movie, however, the special effects are worthless without a story behind them, Fortunately, "The Mummy" is good here, too. What would be a good action-horror plot is bolstered by several comic moments and a credible romance that builds slowly between Evelyn and Rick. Throw in a tragic aspect to Imhotep's story, and careful attention to minor details--an apparent accident that's nothing of the sort and a cat on the set that turns out to play an important part--and the script is certainly better than most action films.

Most of the actors are good enough. While Brendan Fraser walks off with top billing, he's the least impressive of the leading cast. Omid Djalili--who plays a corrupt prison warden, and Kevin J. O'Connor--who plays Beni, a sleazy soldier-turned-desert-guide, both lend comic relief. Arnold Vosloo is good as the cursed Imhotep--always truly menacing. Best of the cast is Rachel Weisz, who plays the ambitious--though bookish and clumsy--Evelyn. She is charming whether she is wreaking havoc in the library, romancing the hero, or facing the possibility of becoming the mummy's human sacrifice.

"The Mummy" has curses beyond the ancient Egyptian kind, however. While the vast majority of the special effects are good, there are a few that look like they came straight out of a computer. Additionally, while most aspects of the script are good, the characters are incredibly shallow. Most of them--including the heros--have a casual attitude towards theft and violence towards each other.

"The Mummy" isn't the best choice for children, but I've seen worse. With no sexual content beyond kissing and surprisingly little bad language (perhaps both holdovers from the original 1932 version), the reasons for it's PG-13 rating are the numerous gross scenes (such as the mostly decomposed Imhotep trying to kiss Evelyn), the questionable heros, and the omnipresent action-horror type violence; while pervasive, the violence is usually--but not always--directed against supernatural entities. I think "The Mummy" deserves its PG-13--though it's close to PG.

Director and screenwriter Stephen Sommers is a promising, rising star for fans of action films. His last movie, "Deep Rising" was good, but undistinguished. He's getting much better. "The Mummy" may not quite amount to a pharaoh's treasure, but at least it's a find that you'll dig.

Title:	"The Mummy"
Release date:	May 7, 1999	MPAA rating:	PG-13
Overall rating:	***½	Aprox. run time:	125 min.
Director:	Stephen Sommers
Writers:	Stephen Sommers (screenplay and story), Lloyd Fonvielle (story), Nina Wilcox Putnam (story--original 1932 version), Richard Schayer (story--original 1932 version)
Stars:	Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Arnold Vosloo

Page created: 5/8/99

Copyright © 1999 by John Haywood.