The Mummy Reviews
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"Adventure Is Reborn."
The Mummy has been a movie that I had wanted to see for quite sometime now, and after finally seeing it, I really don't know why. I expected a stupidity factor, but I could have never expected the ridiculousness that was every single aspect of this movie. From the dialogue to the acting, everything is set up to be overly ridiculous and it just didn't work for me. I know there's a lot of people out there that actually do like this movie, but I'm just not one of them. It wasn't for me.
I don't really have too much more to say about it other than that. It felt like a waste of my time. It had moments I guess. There were some cool visuals and some somewhat funny parts. The only thing that bothered me about the humor was that it was all the writing seemed to be trying to do. All the efforts were put into laughs and only about a tenth of the time did the attempt at humor actually pay off.
I'm not saying don't watch the movie because there is definitely an audience for a movie like this. Just know that it isn't going to be great. It seemed kind of amateurish to me, which was the absolute last thing I was expecting from it. In the end, visuals make it somewhat worth a look, but only somewhat.
Super Reviewer
A very loose 'remake' of the classic Karloff horror film this was completely re-imagined and given the 'Indy' treatment with minor horror aspects. To be honest the film is actually a little scary in places with a few jump moments, bugs eating people and getting under their skin and lots of decaying mummies with good close ups, like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' the film achieves the family adventure status despite actually being close to the bone here and there.
The film of course had dated now and the effects that were break through for the day now look pretty dreadful in places, the cgi on the main mummy is dire, bluescreen work is obvious, sets are obvious and the sand effects also look poor. This is of course looking at the effects now, as I said back in the day they were pretty neato, the best examples that still actually look good today are probably at the finale battle with a group of Egyptian mummy soldiers and some real time models, suits and makeup, the severed forearm crawling for the sword is a good 'Evil Dead' moment.
I always did hate the way 'Imhotep' turned into a mini sand tornado for his vanishing act and kinda flew out the window, really nasty video game effects and idea there, looked dumb then...looks dumb now.
The plot is cheesy and simple as are most of the performances, you can easily tell who's gonna die right from the start because most of the character actors here are the usual cannon/monster fodder in other films. I know the film is suppose to be a kind of homage to B-movies and those old daring black and white adventure matinee flicks but the cast do really give the film a rough n ready feel, its almost as if they couldn't attract anyone else. Everyone is pretty well cliched to the hilt here with your toff sounding British accents, trigger happy yanks, the horrendous Kevin J. O'Connor, the odd but well cast Vosloo who plays it deadly straight and a nice little turn for British comedian Omid Djalili in a rather stereotyped role.
Its definitely one of if not the best period adventure type flicks that can hold a candle to old 'Indiana Jones', the only other few films that can challenge 'Dr Jones' in my opinion are 'The Rocketeer' which would be a flying Indy hehe and probably 'The Phantom' and 'The Shadow'. Looking back is was a good fun ride, nowadays its still fun but more like a bad video game of sorts. I think they tried too hard and went over the top with all the guns, stunts and stuck in too much slapstick, sure it was meant to be a blockbuster (and that's its problem really) but less is more right.
Super Reviewer
Its just a very enjoyable light hearted amusing, but also freaky and possible a bit of a horror flick as well!
Too be honest its an all in one movie that should be enjoyed, a great and amusing movie!
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It's hardly a remake of the Universal classic of the same name. It's merely a new way to tell the story with the same basic idea - a murderous mummy is brought back from the dead. This time we have a hero and heroine who must stop him before he takes over the world, or something along the line of world domination.
The hero is Rick (Brendan Fraser), a thief thriving off the very basics out in Egypt circa 1930. Arrested and to be hanged, he is saved by the heroine (Rachel Weisz), who believes he may hold the key to helping them find an ancient Egyptian kingdom buried under the sand, if I recall correctly. Little does she know what lurks beneath the sand near that old kingdom is none other than the remains of a man who was caught cheating on the king's wife years ago and mummified.
Now, after unearthing the remains of the kingdom, the expedition led by our heroes come upon an ancient "Book of the Dead," which, when read from, brings the ancient mummy back to life. Now he is out to kill, regenerate and bring back his old lover - pretty neat, huh?
I own "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy," a great movie spoofing the classic film. "The Mummy" Isn't exactly a spoof but it's very tongue-in-cheek. It knows it isn't an Oscar-winner, it knows it stands nothing against the older film, and so it goes for pulp thrills. I actually believe that this film is a bit classy in execution - compared to many other entertainments floating around nowadays it stands as one of the only films to return to the roots of the pure adventure films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) so successfully did.
Brendan Fraser is a perfect choice for the lead star. Calm, but with ironic and sarcastic humor; cool, but a strong lead. I wondered what it would have been like if they had casted an actor in his role who would have taken it all more seriously. I bet the results would have been disastrous. Fraser knows that this is all good fun, and he's having a good time playing his role with comedy. Every once and a while you can catch a wink at the screen that lets us know that he knows what he's doing.
2001 brought a sequel to "The Mummy" named, of all things, "The Mummy Returns." I found it just as fun as this film though some critics begged to differ. Summer 2002 brought yet another "Mummy" film, this one a prequel called "The Scorpion King" - it was a following of a co-star of the first sequel. The Mummy was not in it at all. It was a horrible film that wasn't near as fun as this one. So I recommend you see "The Mummy" as soon as humanly possible. After that, see "The Mummy Returns."
Either way, you simply can't go wrong.
Super Reviewer
There are also other travelers who want to find this legendary place, but that's not the 'good people's' main enemy. They don't know it yet, but a certain mummy didn't quite decay enough and now it's not even human, and not even a dead human at that! I don't know about them, but if it was me, I would probably pass on waking it up after a 3000 year sleep!
"The Mummy" in my opinion, is a spectacular movie. I haven't ever saw the original 1932 version, so I can't really compare it to that one, but when compared to the other great movies of last millenium....er...1999, "The Mummy" is right there at the top. It has great acting, a better than interesting story, and SPECTACULAR special effects. Whether it's the wars that break out upon the different sides or the mummy himself, the special effects are something to keep an eye on. But don't get me wrong, this isn't a movie that is good just because of its special effects....everything else about it is just as great! NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. Saw this in the theater and loved every minute of it.
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