Set in 1923, 3,000 years after the horrific mummification of a man who fooled around with the Pharaoh’s mistress, this tale follows three divergent personalities searching for the ancient City of the Dead, where the mummy and some awesome treasures are said to be buried. A librarian with a penchant for all things ancient, her goofy brother, looking for the fortune of his life, and Rick O’Connell, your modern day hero.
The fun summer thrill ride of action-packed popcorn movies with extra cheese has begun with a major Egyptian blast, in this part-romance, part-action, part-horror, part-comedy kick in the entertainment nuts! I would qualify this film as being one of the closest deemed worthy of the title of Indiana Jones Jr., with its charismatic lead actor, in Brendan Fraser, its non-stop adventurous tone, and its mouth-dropping special effects of the Mummy and his wonderfully wicked world of evil. This is the perfect movie to go see if you want to escape to a place of the past, with breath-taking images of the desert, damsels in distress, swash-buckling and gun-toting heroes and a gallery of mummies ready to skin you to the bone, in hopes of regaining their own livelihood. Check your brain at the door, and enjoy the bumpy ride, cause this one will have you laughing, screaming and sighing your way into the mysterious world of ancient Egypt and its spooky-dooky myths.
Credit the special effects department with most of this film’s greatest moments, but don’t take away from the always entertaining script written by the director himself, Stephen Sommers, and the enjoyable action sequences which mixed comedy and a slick choreography of guns, knives, swords, kicks and punches. The cast is also very good, with Fraser leading the way as the man who likes to kick mummy ass, John Hannah as the always amusing brother of the leading lady, and Kevin O’Connor as the quirky weasel who gets into cahoots with the bandaged corpse himself. All in all, a fun time at the movies, with plenty of action, comedy, adventure and romance to satisfy everyone waiting impatiently for THE PHANTOM MENACE (8/10), and some of the coolest special effects this side of THE MATRIX (8/10). In fact, it’s a perfect place to take your own “mummy” on Mother’s Day this weekend. Then again, thousands of flesh-eating bugs munching a man alive might not be her cup o’ tea 🙂