Quite probably the second best film of 1999

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2000)

I don't often actually go to the cinema to see a film, i usually wait till it comes out on video, but when i do go, few films actually blow me away. After seeing The Mummy, i left the cinema with very much the same feeling i had after seeing Fight Club. It was a feeling of astonishment, and total satisfaction, like i said, the film blew me away. I was literally speechless when i left the cinema.
I'm not saying the mummy is the greatest film ever, because after having watched it well over 50 times by now, i know this is not so, but what amazed me was how efficient and how enjoyable the film was. Not many films leave me feeling the way the mummy did.
I was already a fan of Stephen Sommers' earlier film Deep Rising (1998), but i didn't expect that he could follow up with such a treat.
The acting is great, everyone involved effectively sends up their characters. Brendan Fraser is the perfect goofy hero, putting himself up there with Bruce Campbell and the like. He has made a seamless move into the blockbuster territory. Rachel Weisz is pretty good, but pretty unspectacular as the love interest (I can think of many young actresses who could just have easily played the role), but it is refreshing to see a British actress given a major role in a hollywood film. Which brings me on to another fellow Brit, John Hannah, who can't fail but be excellent in everything he turns his unique talents to (remember the funeral scene in Four Weddings?). Arnold Vosloo came as a surprise, I remember him from Hard Target (1993), but unfortunately very little else. I find this surprising as he is a very striking actor, with great ability. He has very little to say in the film, but dialogue is only half of acting. His screen presence added a lot to the film, and i hope to see him in a lot more. The real star of the show though, is the criminally underated Kevin J 'O'Conner. He plays the main comedy relief, and is just so excellent at it. His performance seems so effortless (Even though he plays a bad guy, that is meant as a compliment) and like Vosloo, he adds a lot to the film.
The script, like Deep Rising, spends a lot of time poking fun at itself, and the main thing is, it doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a great deal of intelligent humour, intertwined with belly laughs, which is a winning formula for a blockbuster.
The main thing in any film of this type though, is always the special effects, which are near perfect. The scarab beetles are superb, the sandstorm absolutely gobsmacking on the big screen (the shot where the plane flies towards the camera, with the sandstorm appearing over a cliff in the bakground then crashing down mere feet in front of us blew me away), the undead mummies at the end of the film, as well as the warrior mummies were expertley rendered and animated, paying homage to the work of Ray Harryhausen, and the main Mummy itself, before regenerating was quite a lot like the termintator, but still very impressive. Some of the digital makeup on Vosloo, was a little sloppy, and a few easy to spot green screen shots, are the only glitch in the effects.
What the film does lack is a sense of atmosphere, which is a great shame, because a lot of effort has been put into the sets, so much so, that at times you do feel like you're in a studio. A very predictable storyline, and ending is another flaw with the film, but these are only minor defaults, because the film is not about story, it's about fun.
If you want two hours of pure old fashioned Indiana Jones inspired hijinks, then check this film out. It won't be to everyone's tastes, but what is?
4.5 out of 5