The Mummy (1999)

Well this movie was on a list of reviews to be done, and since I already did the classic 1932 Universal Mummy movie, it only makes sense to talk about the most recent ones before the new movie hits Friday.

So The Mummy was released in 1999, even though I could have sworn it was earlier in the 90s, starring Brendan Fraiser and Rachel Weisz. So the story is a basic retelling of the 1932 Mummy, with the priest Imhotep buried alive after having a love affair with the pharoah's mistress, only to be ressurected and it's up to our 3 heroes Rick, Evie, and Jonathan to find a way to defeat the ancient evil before he you guessed it, destroys the world. Okay, not exactly Shakespeare in terms of story but it is a decent action adventure movie. You know, it's kind of weird. This movie is actually kind of a hybrid remake of past Mummy movies. It has the story of Imhotep and his ressurection from the original movie but it takes it's action and adventure standpoint from future Mummy movies that occured after the original. Except those movies followed a different mummy named Karras, and I know this Mummy Movies 101 is going in depth but I wouldn't consider this a good review if I didn't talk about the origins. But basically, this movie is an amalgamation (Love that word!) of past Mummy movies. And you know what really surprised me? Well two things surprised me, first is the sets. Everyone I know talks about the cgi filled moments of this movie, but if you really take a step back and look at the backgrounds, there are many real sets and locations used in this movie. It only uses the cgi when it's absolutely necessary, and I think the new movie will go the same route, real sets but occasional use of cgi when neccesary. Second is the cast! You know what? I am gonna go out on a limb here and say Brendan Fraiser was my generation's Chris Pine. He's a decent looking guy that has no issues doing the action and stunts, has good charm to him, and is very witty and funny at times. I know that sounds insane, but give his performance a shot. Rachel Weisz is very lovely as Evie, but knows her history of Egypt, and yes I am blaming the ressurection on her! She read the book! That's on you Evie. Sorry love. But by the sun god Horus, is Arnold Vosloo awesome as Imhotep, dare I say he makes the movie even though we never really see him until much, much later on. Yeah...the titular mummy doesn't make an appearance until about an hour in of this 2 hour movie, and even then we never see Arnold in full glory until near the end but he commands such a presence, and just how he moves, and how he talks, it really leaves an impression on you. Almost very much like Boris Karloff in the original. And I have no doubt that Sofia Boutella is going to be outstanding! Action is the name of this movie, and it is done very well, sure it's over the top in places but honestly when you get right down to it, you don't really mind. This movie was made to entertain and I say it did a good job since it got two sequels, and a spin off movie (Which we will not be reviewing this week.) so it's not really supposed to be a horror movie. It's an action movie with roots in the horror genre. And if you walk in this movie with that frame of mind, I'd probably guess you wouldn't mind it maybe even like it. It's no masterpiece of adventure, but it's trying to just be an entertaining popcorn flick. And I'm okay with that! So give it a shot, tell me what you think, we might do both sequels tomorrow so I can get that new movie review out for you guys first thing on Friday. So until then, take care.