Despite my predilection for all things ancient Egyptian, I really never intended to see this movie. I’m not big on horror at all, unless you’re discussing well-written and well-executed psychological stories or Gothic horror (Shadow of the Vampire, Interview with a Vampire, Frankenstein, Dracula, etc), and I’m pretty squeamish (it’s really odd... I have no problem at all with forensics stuff, autopsies, whatever, but I am personally of the mind that the Discovery Health Channel should be blocked in the manner of porno channels so I don’t have to see people with their faces slit open when I’m channel surfing [or maybe I should just stop channel surfing and get off my rear end]). But my wonderful aunt insisted that I watch the first five minutes—just the first five minutes. Nothing gory, just nifty ancient Egyptian stuff. So I did. And then I stayed for the rest.

I’m not going to lie to you—this is not the best movie ever made. And I haven’t seen all of the original, so I can’t compare the two. But I can honestly say that this movie is very entertaining. You like action? There’s plenty. You like neato Egyptian stuff and period pieces? It's set in the 1920s at a dig site at Hamunaptra. Multidimensional characters? Got ‘em. How about a little witty repartee? Check. And the cast…oh, ho, ho, the cast. Fabulous, all of them.

We’ve got Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz), a librarian and bloody proud of it. She’s the brains of the movie, able to read and write ancient Egyptian and a repository of facts about it. She’s a bit of a klutz and doesn’t hold her drink well, and I love how much she enjoys turning the guys’ stomachs with descriptions of Egyptian rituals.
And here's Evie’s loving brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). Jonathan is kind of a weasely character, but a loveable weasel. Really a ferret, I guess. Or a parrot—he reminds me of Iago. He loves all the vices—drinking, gambling, heavy sarcasm... And again like Iago (and Rincewind, for that matter) he’s a superficial coward; he’s into the whole self-preservation thing until someone he really cares about is threatened.
Then there’s the love interest, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser). The perfect action hero, Rick is initially a bit of an unsavory character, but he cleans up good. Kelly characterized him best in the scene where he discusses Hamunaptra with Evie: “There’s something out there...” “...and I’m gonna shoot it.” But he’s not all guns and machismo. Rick’s a practical (except when it comes to how many rounds you have to pump into someone before they’re really dead), generally pleasant guy with a deliciously dry sense of humour.
The villain, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), who really isn’t any more of a villain than, say, Phillip Bosinney. See, he fooled around with pharaoh’s favourite concubine, so they buried him alive, but not before they filled his sarcophagus with scarabs and cursed him in an unnecessarily thorough and vicious manner. So now that our wonderful heroes have woken him, he has to walk the earth for all eternity, bringing the ten plagues in his wake when all he really wants to do is resurrect his girlfriend.
And finally, the real hero, plucky Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr), head of the Med-Jai warriors, who have spent the last three millennia keeping Imhotep safely tucked away. So when a group of treasure hunters show up and muck it all up, he’s understandably a bit peeved. Mysterious, serious, and proud, Ardeth is a highly intriguing character. But I still don’t understand why, after they killed so many of his men and unleashed the omnipotent creature that he and his ancestors had dedicated their lives to keeping in check, he befriended them and came to visit them in England.

And, there’re a few other characters. But who really cares about them? ;^)

The Mummy was directed by Stephen Sommers and written by Stephen Sommers, Lloyd Fonvielle, and Kevin Jarre. The score was written by Jerry Goldsmith.

Where the heck is Beni from...?
Created January 1, 2004.