Bimbo

Rating: 7/10 (11 September 2004)

Fun, but dumb. That's how I'd pretty much describe The Mummy. Stephen Sommers has done some wild b-movies in his time (Deep Rising) and was a great choice to write and direct this remake of the old 1930s Universal horror show. Though I must stress that very little of this film is original.
Basically it's an Indiana Jones rip-off with bits of Evil Dead and Hellraiser thrown in. Clichés are abundant and stereotyped, stock characters make up much of the supporting cast. Not only do we get a fair English maiden and a bumbling Brit designed to make the yank look cool but there are also gung-ho cowboys, stuffy professors, a cowardly weasel traitor (who really gets what he deserves) and a slimy slob prison warden. Argh! There's no real point in complaining about this as they're just supposed to be easy identifiable characters for younger audiences to appreciate.
There isn't really much scary about The Mummy, which is what the original was all about. Which brings me to the main problem of the film. I'm-ho-tep (played by the wicked-cool Nicolas Cage doppelganger Arnold Vosloo) is not really a bad guy. Everything he does is for love. Hardly the worst villain in history. In fact the greedy folks excavating his tomb, jeopardising the lives of everyone else for the sake of money are far worse, morally.
The action is exciting and some of the plot elements, however copycatted, are imaginative and clever. The 2 hour+ running time seems to fly by. It may be unoriginal but there's still more heart in The Mummy than in rubbish like Underworld.
The DVD has a great looking 2.35:1 anamorphic picture with even better Dolby 5.1/DTS sound. Loads of extras too, if you care.