Inconsistent, disappointing eye-candy.

Rating: 7/10 (10 May 1999)

As a BIG fan of the big-budget, hi-gloss, Hollywoodized, action-adventure, I have to say that, after salivating over the candy-like previews for weeks, The Mummy was gross disappointment on a grand scale. Unless you count the amazing contradiction present here, there's really nothing special about this film. The acting was sub-par at best. The lack of even the most base character development eliminated my concern for them and therefore the "horror" scenes seemed both typical, far-fetched and inconsistent at the same time.
Lots of little discrepancies (no Africans, no blood, infinitely loaded guns, sewer systems in the desert, collapsing pyramids...), plagued this film. The CG, which is undoubtedly superb in it's own right, was WAAAY overdone and looked really bad on-screen. There is such a thing as too much. I remember thinking at one point, "This looks more like FMV cut in a video game than a movie." Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep) didn't even (re)appear until nearly the middle of the movie. On the plus side, I think the best performance was done by Beni, a snivelling little weasel played by Kevin J. O'Connor, who became Imhotep's minion and had the best lines of all. Rachel Weisz did a decent job with her role as well. Frasier was stiff, out of place and apparently, completely indestructable. The same, however, can NOT be said about the Mummy. Better off rented.