The Mummy for Dummies

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2018)

In Joseph Boggs' book The Art of Watching Films, Boggs suggests that we should consider the level of ambition of a film in evaluating that film. That is, we shouldn't criticize Sleepless in Seattle for not being Schindler's List. Sleepless in Seattle set out to be a sweet romantic comedy and achieved that goal quite nicely. Stephen Sommers' The Mummy appears to have been spawned with a fairly low level of ambition in mind. The good news(?) is that the director achieved his goal. About the only saving grace of this film is that it doesn't take itself too seriously.
The Mummy is loosely based on the Boris Karloff classic from years gone by. Brendan Fraser plays Rick O'Connell, a soldier of fortune, who knows the way to a famous lost city in Egypt. Rachel Wiesz plays Evelyn, a librarian and would-be archaeologist who joins forces with O'Connell and a few other cliches to find the city and uncover hidden treasures. In trying to uncover the treasure they unleash a curse (guess who) and yotta yotta yotta . . .
One of the few bright spots in the film is John Hannah in a supporting role as Evelyn's brother. Hannah's previous films include Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors. His part is more slapstick sidekick here but he carries it off quite nicely. There are some excellent special effects, but I am frankly more than a little weary of films that put special effects where the plot is supposed to be. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz do okay in their roles, but their roles are really not worth much effort.
In the end, The Mummy looks like the offspring of a misbegotten marriage between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, it's not as funny as the latter, nor as exciting as the former, and ends up being a "C minus" grade B film. There are a few scenes that make it inadvisable for kids under thirteen. The rest of the scenes make the film inadvisable for anyone with an IQ greater than that of the average four year-old. Next time out writer-director Sommers would do well to set his sights just a little bit higher.